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Alan Pardew today insisted that Newcastle United need the Toon Army “more than ever” ahead of their crucial clash with Wigan Athletic.

United have slashed ticket prices to just £15 for adults and £5 concessions in a bid swell the crowd this evening.

Pardew has called for a siege mentality ahead of the encounter with Wigan, and feels that the wider media are “desperate” to plunge the knife into his team.

Pardew, though, said that everybody who holds Newcastle United close to their hearts must make themselves heard loud and clear tonight.

The United boss watched from afar as Newcastle’s relegation in 2009 was given global attention compared to most clubs that suffer the same fate.

Now he is determined to stop the rot – starting with three points against the Latics.

And in a rallying call ahead of the big game tonight, Pardew told the Chronicle: “We know we haven’t played well. We want to put that right, of course.

“We went some way to doing that at Stoke.

“The media will try to pull us all apart – there’s no doubt about that. If we were to lose against Wigan, they’d be desperate to pull us apart. We’ve got to stick together.

“We’ve got a great team in the background, and it will come back to us.

“In the meantime, in the next couple of months, we’ll all have to dig in to get that win.

“Whether it’s the fans, the chairman, the manager the masseur – we’re all going to have to dig in. That’s what we’re doing.”

Newcastle attracted just 21,632 for their last home game against Maritimo.

And there could be a low turnout tonight unless there is a big walk-up crowd for the televised clash with Wigan.

Pardew, though, had a simple message for the Geordie fans.

“I don’t take them for granted. They’re our crowd, and we want to give them a win,” he said.

“Forget about the media and the criticism we’ve had – it means nothing to us.

“What is important to us is we have the respect from our fans, and we get them a win and cheer up their Christmas.

“At the minute, it’s a miserable Christmas.”

Pardew would also love to see a huge crowd frighten the life out of Wigan tonight and has urged the Toon Army to crank up the volume.

The United chief was delighted by the response of the 2,000 fans at Stoke in midweek – and said: “We need as many as we can there.

“If they’re like they were at Stoke, they’ll give us a great chance of winning the game.

“I hope so. We definitely need them.

“Without harping on, we have a treatment room full of great players.

“There’s no a lot of change that can be made to the team – we’re going from week to week.

“We really need support, and I’m sure they’ll give it to us.”

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