I starred against Arsenal and City thanks to diet of chicken feet and organs

After a hugely successful career where he represented Tottenham, Newcastle and Crystal Palace, the winger joined Everton in 2021 where everything was going swimmingly until he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in March 2022.

As a result, Townsend didn't make another appearance for the Toffees as he sat on the sidelines for the remaining 15 months of his two-year deal at Goodison Park.

Townsend left Merseyside at the end of his contract in the summer, meaning that he faced the challenge of getting back to Premier League-level fitness while also convincing any potential suitors that at the age of 32, his recent injury woe was merely a blip.

Having spent the summer training with Burnley, he was told that he wouldn't be offered a new contract, leaving him in tears at what the future would hold for him.

The opportunity to step back into the game eventually came with newly-promoted Luton who were desperate to add Premier League experience to their ranks.

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Signing for the club in October, Townsend signed a three-month deal at Kenilworth Road - a deal that runs until January - meaning that the winger faced the prospect of being without a club once again if things didn't work out.

Thankfully for him, Townsend has been able to prove his fitness to Rob Edwards and has so far made eight appearances for the Hatters, impressing with two assists in the last week against Arsenal and Manchester City.

Speaking on The Sports Breakfast the day after their narrow defeat to Pep Guardiola's side, Townsend said: "Honestly, I feel amazing. Although it's been a week that has brought no points for us it's been an incredible week for myself.

"I started the season as a pundit and fast-forward and four of my first five starts for Luton have been against Liverpool, United, Arsenal and Manchester City so it's been a whirlwind couple of months for me, to say the least."

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In order to get himself into peak physical condition, Townsend has taken a unique approach to staying in peak physical condition, recently revealing that he was eating chicken feet as part of an alternative diet to stave off injuries.

Asked more about how he's staying in shape, Townsend said: "There's so many things that I'm doing now - not to try and prolong my career but to try and stay in the game.

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"Chicken feet is one of them. It's high in collagen and it's actually beautiful. It's very fatty, there's not much meat to it and it's beautiful and at the moment I feel amazing.

"It's probably not down to the chicken feet itself, but all in all, I feel absolutely amazing.

"They are beautiful, they taste amazing. I steam them for 20 minutes. There are nicer ways to make them - you can make them with sweet and sour sauce or black pepper but I don't have the time for that so I just throw them in the steam oven for 20 minutes.

"Once you get past the fat, it's a really nice cut meat."

Asked what else he's doing, Townsend said: "How long have you got? In terms of the food I'm eating organs - so ox heart, beef heart, beef liver.

"In terms of recovery I'm doing two hours a day in a hyperbaric chamber, which is basically an oxygen chamber. Anything, any sort of recovery or injury-prevention that you can name, I'm on it at the moment.

"I've been out of the game for so long. Normally players in their 30s after they've had a long-term injury they struggle with niggly injuries for the rest of their career.

"With the three-month contract that I got with Luton I can't afford to miss any games at all, so I started doing my own research and came across chicken feet and animal organs and all of these wacky things that are not in the mainstream media."

"I've been able to train every day, it's just that I'm such a short-term deal and coming back off a long-term injury.

"If I was 21 then Luton would say 'oh don't worry, you've got time - we can dip you in and out of games' but unfortunately I don't have that luxury.

"I'm 32 and they need proven quality here and now and so I need to be ready to play against Arsenal on a Tuesday night and ready to go again against Man City on a Sunday afternoon.

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"At the moment because of what I'm doing, I'm able to do that and long may it continue."

Townsend and Luton are next in action when they travel to take on Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon.