Owls Counting On Fan Power

Owls boss Brian Laws has revealed deals to extend the loans of Michael Johnson and Graham Kavanagh could be in jeopardy unless the stayway fans return to Hillsborough.

Wednesday have suffered a drop in attendances this season, partly due to the poor start to the campaign on the field, and also because of problems off it including outbursts from chairman Dave Allen and the threat to sue a number of fans for comments made on internet message boards.

Clashes on Sky haven't helped, with the 1-0 home defeat to Bristol City bringing in the lowest crowd in some time at S6 for a league match with just 17,559 coming through the Hillsborough turnstiles.

And the Owls supremo insists that should the gates continue to dwindle in the coming matches, Owls fans could well have seen the last of the influential loan duo.

'Gates are down so the club are losing money and it could affect the decision on the loans of Johnson and Kavanagh; I certainly have to acknowledge that fact,' Laws told the Sheffield Star.

'In a sense, I can understand the crowd figures; performances and results have not gone hand in hand.

'It we can get it right on the pitch, it would certainly help. We need the help of Kavanagh and Johnson to do that. I'd hate to lose them. They have certainly contributed.'

But it's unlikely that Owls fans will come flocking back to watch their struggling team, with the next two home matches in Scunthorpe United and Blackpool hardly being the glamour games of the division, although Laws' former club may well bring a decent following to South Yorkshire.

Gates at S6 are already down about 3,700 on last season's average gate, after just five games of the new Championship campaign.

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