Latics reserves had a night to forget as they crashed to a 6-0 home defeat to Burnley in their opening match of the season in the totesport.com League.

There was precious little to cheer for Latics who could have even lost by a heavier margin as the Clarets ran riot.

While the Latics defence leaked goals alarmingly, there was little forward firepower as Lee Grant was a spectator for most of his competitive debut for Burnley. 

Latics, 2-0 down at the break, were lucky not to fall further behind early in the second period.

Jay Rodriguez had the ball in the net, but luckily for Latics the Clarets striker had strayed marginally offside.

Latics struggled to make any inroads as Burnley comfortably held on to their two-goal cushion.

There was an unusual substitution 20 minutes from time when referee Jake Collin had to be replaced after he complained of feeling dizzy.

Latics were left in a spin moments later when Wes Fletcher burst through their defence to add a third goal shooting high past keeper Josh Ollerenshaw.

That was quickly followed by a fourth goal as a long ball was headed down for Rodriguez to find the net to pile on the misery for Latics.

Burnley added a third goal in five minutes when Alex MacDonald's shot was blocked and the rebound was fired home by Kevin McDonald through a crowded goalmouth.

Fletcher was on the mark again scoring his second and Burnley's sixth, a fine glancing header from a corner.

Latics had a rare chance late on when Kirk Millar's long-range effort struck the crossbar, a rare bright moment on a wretched night for the Boundary Park side.