PAUL Jewell has launched an attack on the stay-away Wigan fans who he claims have made the JJB Stadium a "dispiriting" place to play football.

Just 15,311 supporters watched Wednesday's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal - the second lowest attendance of the season - with 2,500 of those Gunners fans.

Jewell firmly believes if there had been a full house, Wigan could have emerged from the game with at least a point.

And the Latics boss feels poor attendances are not only harming the club on the pitch, but are making his job more difficult off it as he tries to attract new players and turn his side into a respected force.

"It was so dispiriting to see 10,000 empty seats against Arsenal," said Jewell, whose side host Sheffield United tomorrow with their average attendance 3,000 down on last season - 17,500 compared to 20,600.

"I was at a full Bramall Lane on Monday and there fans definitely helped them.

"Against Arsenal, the crowd were tremendous. The noise when we got on top was fantastic.

"If we'd had an extra 10,000 in the crowd we might have even won that game. They really are that important.

"But sometimes it makes you wonder whether the Wigan public really want Premiership football. I think you have to ask that question.

"I think for some people, being in the Premiership is wearing off. It's become a novelty. They don't come to watch Wigan, they come to watch the opposition.

"I'm not slagging off the fans that come, and I can't stress that enough because the fans that come are really good, but we really deserve more.

Expensive

"They will come back and say it is expensive. I know that, and maybe it's something the club can look at.

"But it is dispiriting, and the players do talk about the lack of atmosphere at times around the ground.

"It is also making my job more difficult to prove we're a forward-thinking club, and I know we are because of the way we do things off the pitch, but we need help from the supporters."

Emphasising the task he faces, Jewell added: "I'm ambitious. I want to be as good as I can be, and I want football in Wigan to mean as much to them as it does to me.

"But when I'm trying to get players in it makes it difficult when there are only 15,000 against Arsenal. It doesn't look good.

"Maybe those who aren't coming now will never come back. Maybe we can't bring them back. Maybe I'm banging my head against a brick wall.

"I keep trying to do my best for the team, and wherever it takes me, it takes me.

"But I don't want to waste my time and energy on something that can never happen."

Jewell's priority tomorrow will be to find a way past a resurgent United who have taken seven points from their last three games.

Captain Arjan de Zeeuw is poised to return after missing the last four games with a toe injury, while midfielder Paul Scharner is available again after serving a one-match ban.

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