The wife of a Manchester United fan who suffered life threatening head injuries in an attack just before Southampton's last game of the season today launched a fresh appeal for witnesses and information.

Karen Turner said her husband Jamie, who fell into a coma following the assault in Southampton more than three weeks ago, could now get out of bed and hold short conversations.

But she told a press conference hosted by Hampshire Police that it could be up to two years before doctors knew the full extent of the brain injury caused by the attack in Clifford Street on May 15.

Describing the moment her husband regained consciousness, Mrs Turner said: "As I got up to the side of the bed... he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him. Quite clearly he said to me, 'kiss me'. And I thought, 'what a fantastic first reaction'."

Mrs Turner, from Flag Leasow, Madeley, Telford, Shropshire, said no one had yet spoken to her husband about the attack

which occurred when a large number of people started fighting outside the Gladstone Club.

The disorder is thought to have involved a group which included Manchester United supporters and local men.

She said: "We haven't approached it. The doctors advised us to go very slowly and we have to take advice before we talk to him about it."

Speaking at Donnington Police Station in Telford, Mrs Turner appealed to the public for help to trace the person responsible for her husband's injuries.

She said: "We are still looking for witnesses and we still want more evidence because everybody wants the person who did this caught.

"I know in some cases you've got to be very brave to go to the police, but put your own feelings to one side and think about what Jamie's been through.

"You wouldn't let a dog suffer the way Jamie's suffered, you'd put it down.

"He didn't do anything to deserve it. Help him now by helping us by finding the person who did it and proving that they did it."

A previous appeal for help was made by England football legend Sir Bobby Charlton who appeared on television earlier this month urging witnesses to come forward.

Mr Turner, 45, was transferred from the Wessex Neurological Unit at Southampton General Hospital to the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford where he is currently being treated.