BACKROOM staff including physiotherapists and masseuses from Bolton Football Club are looking to use ancient medicinal arts to guarantee their future success.

And one player, Mike Whitlow, is even taking lessons in the easter medicine discipline at John Brazier's Lytham St Anne's-based academy.

Having tongues assessed for colour and shape and pulse taken to gauge the health of internal organs is not perhaps what Wanderers' players thought would happen when they had to visit the physio's room but John, the founder of the Northern Academy of Oriental Medicine, did precisely that.

If the idea of bringing eastern medicine to top-flight football seems unusual, consider that before long a queue of footballers greeted John's twice-weekly visits to the Reebok Stadium.

Some of Bolton's physiotherapists and masseuses are now looking to train in the ancient art which is based on 5,000 years of diagnostic knowledge.

Brazier was contacted by Wanderer's head physiotherapist, Mark Taylor, with a view of complementing his traditional western methods.

And he could not have imagined that Brazier would prove so successful in helping to cure long-standing problems that were proving stubborn in their resistance to more traditional treatment.

One young star, Ryan Baldacchino, was scheduled for a third groin operation when, after being referred to Brazier was told he would be cured within three weeks.

"In the end it took six," explains Brazier, himself a former national karate champion.

"But by then he was able to train and play and he did not need an operation. Ninety-five per cent of the time, players are amazed that I am able to accurately diagnose what they are suffering from by studying their tongue and pulse and asking them a few questions.

"But it is, after all, a medicine based on 5,000 years of diagnostic knowledge."

French defender Bruno N'Gotty (last weekend's goal hero against deadly rivals Man United) was also to benefit from eastern medicine when Taylor's western, and more traditional methods, had proved unsuccessful.

"I examined the size and colour of his tongue, which tells us a lot about the internal organs," Brazier states.

"A big, fat or discoloured tongue, for instance, tells us that certain organs aren't functioning properly.

"And where in western medicine the pulse is used to measure heart beat, in oriental medicine there are certain points on the wrist which show how strong your lung, digestive and kidney systems are.

"With Bruno, I diagnosed pulse weakness on the spleen, which is symptomatic of a digestive imbalance, and oedema - or excessive water under the skin.

Brazier explained that in Chinese medicine the spleen exists to extract nutrients from food and to distribute it to muscles and into the body generally.

"Another symptom of a weak spleen is how it can affect your bowels and Bruno was going to the loo five times a day.

Initially N'Gotty was treated with acupuncture in the stomach and legs to strengthen the spleen and kidney systems before being given an abdominal massage to stimulate the kidneys.

Finally a reciprocal muscle treatment was carried out to get his muscles working more efficiently.

"After two weeks of being treated a couple of times a day he was back to full fitness."

The oriental methods and medicines are now often the preferred choice of treatment for some high-profile celebrities.

For example, Barry Sheene, suffering with stomach and throat cancer, is exploring these as an alternative to chemotherapy. Richard Gere, star of smash-hit movie Chicago and a Buddhist, uses acupuncture in a quest to appear more youthful it is reported.

However the aim is prevention, not cure says Brazier who did martial arts for 20 years.

"In traditional martial arts, which is self-defence, there is an element of medicine.

"Your job is to keep people healthy as well as safe."