BRIAN Noble knows Wigan must take two points from Huddersfield to keep their season alive.

The cherry and whites trail sixth-placed Giants by three points going into tonight's televised engage Super League clash at the JJB Stadium.

Victory would move Warriors, docked four points for exceeding the salary cap, to within one point of the Yorkshire club.

But defeat would virtually extinguish their play-off hopes - leaving Wigan five points adrift with just four games remaining.

After a miserable two weeks in which the club has been put up for sale and dumped out of the Challenge Cup by Catalans, Noble is backing his side to come out fighting as they look to end a three-game losing streak.

"I want a performance that will kick-start the rest of the year," he said.

"We can't do anything about those issues, so we'll focus on something we can do something about.

"This game could reignite ourselves in relation to the run-in, but we need to stay focused and we need a good performance.

"If we can get ourselves in the top six then we can shake up the competition because we've got a very good team here."

Noble will be hoping for a vastly improved performance from last weekend's 43-24 surrender at Warrington.

That was Warriors' third successive defeat away from home, and Noble will be glad to return to play at the JJB, where they have been impressive, remaining unbeaten since mid-May.

Indeed, Noble has praised the home fans for their continued support in one of the most turbulent periods in the club's illustrious history.

"One of the positives over the last 18 months has been the superb support we've received from the Wigan fans and the Wigan public," he said.

"The noise they have made is something special and we need some more of that"