Arsene Wenger admits he ‘worries’ about Arsenal fans after a number of empty seats against Watford

The official attendance was 59,131 but the empty seats were clear to see

There were plenty of free seats in the Emirates (Getty)

Arsene Wenger has admitted that the apathy of Arsenal fans is an ongoing concern, and has vowed to win back the trust of the club’s support.

Thousands of empty seats were visible at the Emirates for the convincing 3-0 win against Watford, making a mockery of the official “attendance” of 59,131, and Wenger said it was an understandable reaction to a nightmarish week in which they were humbled twice by Manchester City and once by Brighton.

“Yes, of course, I worry,” he said. “Because I want our fans to behind the team and be happy. But after what happened in that week, I understand a bit. We have to get the fans on our side, and do absolutely everything to achieve it. We need some more games. We had a nightmare week, and so overall we still have some work to do, but we are in a good way.”

Wenger believes that the two wins against AC Milan in the Europa League and Watford here have dragged Arsenal out of the “negative spiral” they were in. “There is a lot of negativity,” he said. “It’s like in rain in England, it’s easy to get. I focus on my job, and I think I’ve shown in 22 years that I can do that.”

Arsenal were clearly motivated by the comments of Watford’s Troy Deeney after the reverse fixture five months ago, referring to the team’s lack of “cojones”, and Wenger was clearly satisfied with his team’s response of a win and a clean sheet, Petr Cech’s 200th in the Premier League.

“He had to wait a while to save a penalty, and it’s quite fortunate that it’s against Deeney,” Wenger smiled. “You cannot be a football player without pride. Of course it plays a part.”

Watford manager Javi Gracia lamented his team’s profligacy in front of goal, and said that the game had been too open for his liking. “I can’t believe today we didn’t score a goal,” he said. “Both teams created many chances. It was a very open game, and I would prefer it another way. But you concede an early goal, and everything changed.”