FRANNY Benali, the man whose fighting spirit has come to symbolise Saints' successful relegation battles of the 1990s, is still living in hope of the current squad pulling off their own Great Escape.

The legendary Dell full-back is the player whose name is so often held up as a shining example of the passion, spirit and character lacking in hours of need.

Benali confesses he is a born optimist and said: "It's not over. While there's still a mathematical chance of survival the players must keep on believing.

"They must go out there and be prepared to die for the club.

"If you lose that self-belief then you are as good as relegated.

"The situation is still in our own hands, and as players that's all you can ask for.

"The fixtures are a blessing in disguise for us with Norwich and Palace still to play, and West Brom's result the other night was a good one for us."

Benali was at Fratton Park last Sunday to witness Saints' battle against a first relegation for 31 years take a hammer blow.

"A lot of the things that you look for, like passion, like character, like spirit, were missing last Sunday," he said.

"A lot of the ingredients you need to win matches, not just derby matches, were missing - and that's worrying.

"Those are the sort of ingredients that helped keep us up in the past - that and having good players scoring important goals.

"You do worry about the confidence factor, having lost such an important match by that margin.

"And Harry has says the team is lacking talkers.

"So things do seem to be stacking up against us, but we've got to come through that.

"I talk to a lot of Saints fans and there's a lot of doom and gloom.

"Most people seem resigned to going down.

"It's so frustrating for me not being out there any more - all I can do is sit in the stands like any other fan and hope for the best."