The mystery of the holes and trenches which have appeared at Boundary Park in the last 10 days can now be revealed - Latics have reintroduced synthetic grass.

Fans at tonight's Coca-Cola League One fixture against Leyton Orient will see  a new look to the pitch after the creation of new running areas for assistant referees using 3G Synthetic Sports Turf.

The running areas have been installed as part of a new partnership between Latics and Rapid Turf Synthetic, a dynamic, innovative division of Ashton-under-Lyne based SGC Group.

The 3G Synthetic Sports Turf is considered better than natural turf for the areas which are subject to considerable traffic and damage throughout the season.

And for the assistant referees, it is more comfortable to run on and has a better grip for turning on as there is a 50 millimetre pile laid on a sand and rubber crumb infill.

The cost of maintenance is also much lower than natural turf while it also looks more attractive than muddy running areas and also opens up valuable advertising revenue opportunities.

The new running areas have been installed by Rapid Turf Synthetic with the help of Lee Williams and the remainder of the Latics groundstaff.

The reappearance of artificial grass at Boundary Park rekindles memories of the installation of Latics' plastic pitch back in 1986.

Luton, QPR and Preston also had artificial surfaces, but in those long-gone days they obtained a poor reputation as being hard and the cause of more injuries than natural turf.

Since then there has been enormous strides in the development of artificial grass with the third generation turf, which is known as 3G, the creation which is closest to natural grass.

Further details about Rapid Turf Synthetic Sports Solutions can be obtained from www.rapidturf.co.uk or by telephoning 0161 343 2132.