Latics fan Steve Halley has come to the club's aid in the aftermath of yesterday's arson attack which badly damaged the Corner Flag Hospitality Suite at Boundary Park.

Steve, who runs Stockport-based Cheshire Turf Machinery,  has loaned Latics a blower to clear the pitch of ash and debris so the groundstaff can tend the grass in readiness for Saturday's home league game against Yeovil.

The tractor-mounted blower is one of the products Cheshire Turf Machinery sell and which is used mainly to clear leaves in the autumn.

"Head groundsman Lee Williams rang me on Sunday night and told me about the fire and asked if I had a blower to clear the pitch. I was only too happy to help out," explained Steve.

Steve is a lifelong fan and his family have had links with Latics spanning back to the 1960s when his father Bernard was groundsman in the era when Ken Bates was chairman.