SAINTS fans are keeping the faith - with season-ticket sales only partially affected by the threat of relegation.

With the deadline now up for those wishing to take the discounted 'early-bird' option for 2005/06, Saints have more than 10,000 renewals with the figure poised to rise towards 12,000 once applications have been processed.

That compares with 14,500 at the same stage last year when the club's Premiership status had already been confirmed.

Ticket-office manager David Luker said Saints were delighted with the support from fans - particularly as so many renewals had arrived immediately after the 4-1 debacle at Pompey.

"We have seen an astonishing show of loyalty," said Luker. "Even on the Sunday after Portsmouth we took some £18,000 worth of online renewals.

"In the past week we have had something in the region of £500,000, which is a fantastic amount of money.

"At this stage it is impossible to give a precise figure as there are still so many applications to be processed but more than 10,000 is a conservative guess and we could have another 1,500.

"It is a huge task now but we are absolutely delighted with the response considering we do not yet know which division we will be in.

"There was also a huge surge after the Norwich win.

"We took £60,000 worth of online sales after the final whistle but we had already taken £50,000 before the game."

The club currently has some 21,300 season-ticket holders, but Luker believes the 'early-bird' response means it should now be possible to push towards 18,000 and beyond if Saints win the battle for survival and clinch a 28th successive season in the top flight.

Saints have taken the decision to freeze season-ticket prices regardless of whether they are relegated.

The 'early-bird' deal has allowed existing season-ticket holders to renew at a saving of up to £32.

That is also almost £100 cheaper than the cost of season-tickets when they go on general sale later in summer.

Prices for individual matchday tickets, which currently range from £23 up to £37 for adults, will not be finalised until the end of the season.

Saints, who have more than doubled attendances since the move from The Dell in 2001, have argued that they are still offering a good deal - even in the worst case scenario of Championship football as there would be an extra four league games.

"It would be one of the lowest two or three in the Premiership and still highly competitive in the Championship," added Luker.