Wood and help needed at Spotland Stadium

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The groundstaff are Spotland are working hard to make sure that tonight's game against Notts County goes ahead despite the arctic conditions.

Following a tip off from Dale kit man Jack Northover, Spotland's head groundsman Phil Collinson contacted his counterpart at Walsall who rarely loses a game to freezing conditions.

He said: "I have spoken to the groundsman at Walsall and he has never had a postponement due to frozen pitch.

"The idea is that we bang holes in steel drums, mount them on breeze blocks, burn cardboard and wood in them and let the warm air from them defrost the surface.

"We have 20 drums now thanks to Dexine and we will be moving them around the pitch on the main stand side. The rest of the pitch is fine, the sunshine and decent temperature during the day has seen to that. We just have to work on the shadowy area in front of the main stand yet again."

Mr Collinson was hoping to keep the home fires burning throughout last night and all day today, but a lack of fuel could scupper the plans.

He said: "We have picked up some coal from Littleborough, we have had wood brought in from Leach's and from some supporters. It is fantastic, but we need a lot more if we are going to keep it going all night and throughout today.

"We could also do with a number of volunteers to work a shift pattern keeping the fires going so anyone who wants to help will be more than welcome.

"If you can help with the supply of wood just drop it off anytime, we need as much as we can get!"