Guy Branston has spoken out and issued a challenge to the Latics fans to get behind the team. After the booing and jeering at Barnsley, Branston sent out the following plea to the fans, “You need to stick with us. The fans really can make a difference, and it would be brilliant if they came out in numbers to get behind what we’re trying to achieve. Everybody was hurt by what happened at Barnsley, but I honestly think there has been too much doom and gloom. If you look at the table, we’re one point behind the play-off places, which isn’t the disaster some people are making out. If we’re still in that position in six months, I’m sure the fans will be excited rather than disappointed."“They have a right to turn against us but, speaking as someone who’s still quite new to the club, I was a bit surprised by the reaction last week. Okay we played badly, but it’s a long season and hopefully that was as poor as it’s going to get. Maybe the crowd have become used to disappointment over the last couple of years. Maybe the reaction came from them thinking ‘Here we go again’. That’s understandable and I’m not complaining about getting some stick, but this is a new team with a lot of ambition and we are all here to win promotion. The manager feels just the same, which he has made obvious all week by giving us plenty of rollickings. And if everybody pulls together, including the fans, I’ve no doubt we’ll bounce back quickly from what happened last week."
“That was an experience nobody wants to repeat. When we went 3-0 down so quickly I was hoping the ground would swallow me up. Brentford are going to make life hard and they will try to smash us around a bit, but it’s a battle every weekend because there’s pressure on every game.”