HE may have only been at Hereford United for three months, but Lionel Ainsworth's move to Championship leaders Watford could break an 18-year-old Edgar Street record.

In 1990 Queens Park Rangers folked out £200,000 for defender Darren Peacock and that rose to £440,000 when Newcas-tle United splashed out £2.4m in 1994 as the Bulls placed a 10 per cent sell-on clause in the Bristol-born player's contract.

When the former Derby County winger seals his move to Vicarage Road in January and should the Hornets win promotion back to the Barclays Premier League, Hereford chief Graham Turner says the 19-year-old's switch will break Peacock's record.

"If Lionel goes well and if Watford go well then it will be the biggest incoming transfer fee in the club's history," Turner claimed.

Hard to believe that a player who signed a one-year deal at Edgar Street in August and leaves three months later will break that record, but sources in Watford are not surprised by Turner's claim.

With Ainsworth earning a move back to the Championship in meant that Toumani Diagouraga and Theo Robinson will stay at Hereford until the end of the campaign.

But because the Hereford FA Cup hero made the switch so late on transfer deadline day, Turner was unable to bring a new face in.

"We now have to wait until the January transfer window to find a replacement and strengthen the squad," he added.