BLACKBURN boss Mark Hughes has hired a special fitness coach in a bid to give his side an extra edge in the Premiership.

Tony Strudwick has joined the coaching staff at Brockhall after quitting his post at West Ham United.

And his arrival is all part of Hughes' plan to create a special sports science department within his backroom team as he widens the support network that surrounds the first team.

Hughes is a big believer in sports science and he has already revolutionised the way his players prepare for matches by introducing ProZone, a video based coaching tool which allows him and his coaches to analyse every aspect of a player's performance.

Now the Rovers boss wants to take those preparations a stage further and he's brought in Strudwick to work on a one-to-one basis with individual players in the first team squad.

"The plan is for Tony to work with the players on two levels," said chairman John Williams.

"There's a crossover point between the medical team and the coaching staff in terms of rehabilitation work and one of Tony's jobs will be to work with those players who have recovered from injury and are ready to resume training again.

"But he will also work with the rest of the players, too, on an individual basis and his appointment is all part of a plan to create a sports science department."

Strudwick is the first specialist fitness coach to work with the first team since the days of Roy Hodgson, who brought in an Italian called Arnoldo Longaretti.

The 33-year-old, who has also worked for Coventry and the FA as well as West Ham, will officially go by the title of 'exercise scientist'.