Jack Rodwell has revealed that he had 50 injections in the space of five days in a bid to overcome his injury woes.

The 24-year-old midfielder signed for Sunderland in August 2014 but his career in the North-East to date has been blighted by injuries to his hamstring, groin and calves.

Keen to put the niggles behind him, Rodwell enlisted the help of Bayern Munich's unorthodox former medic Hans Muller-Wohlfahrt, whose previous clients include Usain Bolt, Paula Radcliffe and Michael Owen.

"I was over there from Monday to Friday and I had about 50 injections. He just injects and injects," said Rodwell. "He looked at all the MRI scans and told me what he thought. There's a method to his madness, and he said that when he was at Bayern, the players used to get injections on a weekly basis.

"In terms of the injuries, it's been nothing major, just a series of niggling ones, but I don't want them to continue. When you're out for a week here and there, it sets you back and you're out of the team.

"I want to stay injury-free, that's a massive thing for me. That's why I took this route because prevention is better than cure."

Rodwell has featured in 10 of Sunderland's 16 league games this term.