Aaron Ramsey hopes Arsenal fans will come back and fill seats against AC Milan, after a number of supporters stayed away from the Watford match on Sunday.

At the weekend, there were a large number of gaps in the stands throughout the 90 minutes. So much so that Henrikh Mkhitaryan commented on it afterwards, saying the team plays for the “real fans”, and that he has “nothing to say” to those who only turn up when Arsenal are winning.

Aaron Ramsey had a slightly more diplomatic answer for reporters on Wednesday. He insisted the players were just focusing on the game, and he hopes their performances will change fans’ minds.

“Hopefully there won’t be so many empty seats but we’re just focused on going out there and trying to win a football game,” he said. “Hopefully our performances on the pitch will encourage many to come back.”

There’s certainly a better feeling around the club at the moment than there was this time a week ago.

The win in Milan showed supporters that the team could still put in big performances against major European names. Then the victory over Watford helped to build confidence even further.

Like Ramsey says, the team just need to keep putting in the performances now. However you look at it, the last few months haven’t been good enough. Although that shouldn’t stop fans turning up, it’s no surprise that it has.

Hopefully Arsenal get another good result in the round-of-16 second leg, and set up a quarter-final next month.