BOLTON Wanderers have hit back at claims that they priced Manchester City fans out of attending Saturday's Reebok derby.

Many Blues' supporters announced in advance that they would boycott the game in protest at the ticket price of £36 compared with the £27 Bolton fans were charged when the teams met at Eastlands on December 23.

Sam Allardyce said the empty spaces resulted in a lack of atmosphere, which affected the team's performance. But he was less concerned with the drop in numbers in the City section than he was with the Wanderers' turnout.

The City contingent in the crowd of just 22,334 was around 1,800 - 1,000 down on the number attending last season's fixture.

But Wanderers revealed today that some Blues' fans could have paid as little as £28, if City had taken the full allocation of tickets they were offered.

They also pointed out that those who did buy tickets paid £3 less than they were charged last season, because the match had been re-categorised in the pricing schedule from A+ to A.

"City were offered 2,800 tickets but only decided to take 1,800 which, because of our policy over segregation had to be in the upper tier of the South Stand," said communications manager Danny Reuben.

"Had they taken the extra 1,000, they would have been in the lower tier and would have only cost £28, which would have been more or less on a par with what City charged our supporters at Eastlands last month.

"But the tickets they had were still cheaper than last year - £3 cheaper - because we lowered the category of the fixture."

Nevertheless, Wanderers are growing increasingly concerned that, like many other Premiership clubs, they are suffering an attendance slump.

Saturday's gate figure was more than 4,000 down on last season's corresponding game and 5,000 down on the 2004-05 fixture.

"There were empty seats in the home end, never mind the away end," Allardyce said after the scoreless draw that took the Whites up to fourth in the Premiership for a couple of hours before Arsenal won at Blackburn.

"It's not their responsibility to come here, it's our responsibility for our fans to come here and support the players.

"I continually tell them about the atmosphere and there wasn't any on Saturday, like there normally is. That detracts from the players' performance, I can't keep emphasising that enough.

"They'll all go out and have a moan again about how much it is, but it's no dearer here than anywhere else."

Wanderers, who announced last week that they were offering season ticket holders a chance to buy additional tickets for friends and relatives at £5 for the forthcoming home games against Charlton and Fulham, say they are constantly reviewing their pricing policy.

"Obviously the crowd on Saturday was disappointing and that's something we need to address," Reuben added. "That's why we've offered the cheaper tickets for the next two home games."

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