OXFORD United are poised to launch an ambitious plan which chief executive Mark Ashton believes will eventually set the club apart from their rivals.

A head scout, Craig Dean, will begin work on Monday as part of a revamped department, which United view as critical to their chances of future success.

Within weeks, a minimum of four regional scouts will be hired and begin to file reports.

It will feed into a database being built by head of technical recruitment Mark Thomas, who joined United in July.

The impact will not be immediate, but Ashton believes the system’s influence over time cannot be overstated.

“It’s something we fundamentally believe in,” he said.

“I think a lot of the clubs are much of a muchness, this is one of the areas we will have a USP (unique selling point) over time.

“This is one of the things I can look fans in the eye and say ‘this is what we’re building, this is one of the things that is going to make us different to other football clubs’.

“Having seen how in the industry this area is generally very disorganised, we need to modernise it, be proactive and we need to be three steps ahead of our competitors, but we think we can do it.”

Setting up the new department has taken significant investment, with at least half a dozen staff coming on to the payroll.

It is expenditure on top of a business which has lost more than £1m in each of the last two sets of accounts.

But Ashton, right, is adamant if United are serious about progressing they cannot afford to neglect the area and it will prove money well spent.

He said: “You could put the same argument to why have an academy.

“I have never yet come across a business that has cut its way to success.

“We wrote a three to five year detailed business plan and this was fundamental to it.

“This is nothing we haven’t planned for or financially resourced.

“I think this is the most important thing that we would have at the football club.

“Without this you’re exactly the same as everyone else and you have no professional difference.

“People say to me this is a game of inches, but I think it’s a game of millimetres.

“This will over time give us a strategic edge on our competitors and I’ve seen this happen.”

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