George Dugdale

Oxford United have appointed Alasdair Lane as Head of Sports Science.

Following a disappointing end to the season, chairman Kelvin Thomas hinted that the club would look to enhance the fitness and injury prevention elements of the coaching staff and Lane's arrival appears to be the first measure in that process.

Lane worked as an aircraft technician in the British Army for eight years whilst also performing the role of physical training instructor for a regiment of 400. He then progressed to the role of patrol commander, before being appointed as the Head of Conditioning at Brentford in 2008.

After three years at Griffin Park in which time the club won the League 2 Championship, finished 9th in League One, had a lengthy Carling Cup run and reached the JPT final, Lane moved to Rotherham United.

Having been informed that he would not be retained under new manager Steve Evans, Lane has taken on a similar role in Chris Wilder's staff. He will work closely with the first team to monitor fitness, fatigue and injury risk with the assistance of Polar Team 2 technology.

Lane's first task at United was to monitor the player's fitness tests on the first day of pre-season training this morning.

Billericay Town midfielder Glenn Poole, who trained under Lane at Brentford, told Rage Online: