SMILES were plastered across children’s faces at Royal Blackburn Hospital when Burnley FC’s stars popped in for a visit.

The Premier League outfit came bearing gifts and got the chance to chat with youngsters and their parents during yesterday's visit.

Sam Cree, 13, from Burnley, met the club’s manager, Sean Dyche, and told him how he broke his leg during a football match last week.

Mr Dyche signed a Burnley FC calendar for him and talked about breaking his own leg at the age of 17.

Sam said: “It was fantastic to meet the manager of the club I follow.

“It’s been really good and it was nice of him to visit me.”

Recent England internationals James Tarkowski and Nick Pope, alongside Aaron Lennon, Ben Mee, Kevin Long, Jack Cork, among others, were taken around the children’s wards at the hospital in Haslingden Road.

Mr Dyche, who has been the club’s manager since 2012, said: “You can see a real change on the children’s faces when the players come in and that’s really nice to see.

“It’s important to come here and the players have really bought into the community aspect of the job.”

When asked if it is nice for the players to visit the youngsters in hospital, Mr Tarkowski, who plays as a defender for Burnley FC, said: “Of course it is, we want to be able to give something back to our supporters. Obviously this is not where these children want to be at Christmas time so we want to be able to help them feel a bit better.”

Other players, including Joe Hart, Ashley Barnes and Jay Rodriquez, visited the specialist mental health service for children and young people at Burnley General Hospital.

Winger Johann Berg Guomundsson said: “It’s really nice to come here every year. Hopefully we can put a smile on some faces for a little bit and make their life better.”