OXFORD United are planning to install a temporary fourth stand at the Kassam Stadium this summer which will stay up for the whole of next season in Sky Bet League One.

The club made enquiries about putting in a structure for their final game of the season earlier this month, after all the home tickets for the clash with Wycombe Wanderers sold out.

They ran out of time to get the idea off the ground, but chairman Darryl Eales has told the Oxford Mail he would be disappointed if the new season kicked off in August without a fourth stand at the Kassam.

The 2,200 extra seats which were discussed for the Chairboys game are not viewed as practical for an entire campaign, due to the need for extra facilities such as turnstiles and toilets.

But Eales is looking at a smaller stand which he believes, while unlikely to make money, should be feasible.

He said: “It’s just about going through the correct planning procedures and there’s no reason why we can’t do that.

“I would be disappointed if we can’t put in a 600-seat fourth stand for the first game of the season.

“I’m a born optimist. I’m sure someone who does logistical planning will tell me why that’s not possible, but that’s the objective.

“It’s not an economic proposition – you’re not going to put 600 seats in and get a payback on it.

“If you’re very lucky and the ground filled out enough you’d probably break even.

“But for me, wouldn’t it be lovely to go into League One with not the perfect fourth stand, but a fourth stand.”

The Wycombe game was the first sell-out for a league game at the Kassam for more than four years, although the U’s had similarly large gates this season for cup games against Swan- sea City, Blackburn Rovers and Millwall.

While even allowing for a jump in season ticket sales following promotion, the extra capacity offered by a fourth stand would only come in useful for a handful of fixtures, such as the derby with Swindon Town.

But Eales is keen to fill in the gap, which should provide a boost to the atmosphere, and by moving away fans behind the goal it would allow extra room in the North Stand for home fans.

The U’s owner said: “We can then say we’ve got 10,000 home tickets for every game.

“My challenge to the Oxfordshire population is ‘give me a real problem by filling them every week’.”