Thursday 15 March 2018 10:52, UK
Arsene Wenger wants his Arsenal side to put in better performances to entice disgruntled fans back to the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners have seen attendances dwindle and rows of empty seats at recent home matches following a string of damaging defeats.
Arsenal only give their official attendance in terms of tickets sold, not taking into account the actual number of supporters who make it through the turnstiles.
The lowest attendance record has been broken twice this campaign, against Doncaster in the Carabao Cup and BATE Borisov in the Europa League group stages.
But big matches have also seen sparse crowds, with Wenger blaming widespread freezing temperatures for the low turnout in the recent 3-0 Premier League defeat to Manchester City.
There were a similar number of empty seats for Sunday's win over Watford and it remains to be seen how many supporters turn up for the second leg of Arsenal's last-16 Europa League clash with AC Milan on Thursday.
"I don't know the explanations," Wenger said when asked about fans opting to stay at home.
"I feel that for 22 years I have played in front of sold-out stadiums and I am grateful...you don't expect me to say I don't want them to come back.
"If there are one or two games and the stadium is not completely full we have to look at ourselves and get the fans behind us again. This club is massive and the support is huge. It is just down to our performances."
Wales international Aaron Ramsey echoed the comments of his manager when asked about attracting supporters back.
"Hopefully there won't be so many empty seats," he said.
"But we're just focused on going out there and trying to win a football game. Hopefully, our performances on the pitch will encourage many to come back."
