KASEY KELLER is convinced Saints are capable of pulling themselves well clear of the dreaded drop-zone.

With Antti Niemi and Paul Smith both injured, the American goalkeeper joined Saints on loan last Thursday and came straight into the team to face Pompey.

He played his part with an excellent late reaction save to deny substitute Ricardo Fuller and secure the 2-1 win which takes Saints out of the bottom three.

"There's no question it can be a comfortable run-in come the end of the season without looking over their shoulder," he said.

"Whenever you have a bad start to the season, the key is always security and if you can go into the last few games without thinking we really need to win, it takes a lot of pressure off everybody and that really has to be the goal.

"Christmas period is really so hectic with so many games in a couple of days you can find yourself in a comfortable mid-table position.

"Hopefully we can take the momentum out of this game. The key is to continue this non-losing streak. It is now four games unbeaten in the league."

It has been a hectic week for Tottenham's Keller, who is now away with the United States until Thursday.

"It's been a wild couple of days," he said.

"Someone mentioned to me on Wednesday would I be interested in coming and I said 'sure, why not'.

"Everything had to be agreed between the two chairman. I then got down here Thursday night.

"It was straight to the hotel, then to the stadium for training, back to the hotel, back to the stadium and now join up with the national team.

"It's fantastic to get the victory and obviously against the local rivals it is even sweeter.

"I hope I can get back here on Thursday night and then have another good training session on Friday and hopefully we will get another good result at Norwich."

Keller is currently being kept out of the Tottenham team by England's Paul Robinson, but looked solid and sharp despite a mix-up with Andreas Jakobsson for Pompey's opener.

"The first goal was the result of two things," he said.

"The crowd being so loud in a local derby we couldn't hear what's going on. Also I think a couple of games down the road Andreas would know I would be there.

"Those are just things that happen, but we got the two goals.

"I didn't have a ton to do, but I made a few saves, good crosses and the kicking was alright.

"Overall, I was very happy. The guys in front of me in the second-half did very well defensively. I'm excited and there is no reason why we can't go on from here."

He added: "I've been fortunate this year because I have only gone a couple of weeks without a competitive game.

"I've been involved in qualifiers with the national team or I would pick up a good game in the cup with Tottenham, so I feel good."

Keller was no stranger to featuring in a Saints win - on the previous FOUR occasions he had played against them for Spurs he had been on the receiving end each time!

He played in both league games last season, which saw Saints won 3-1 at White Hart Lane and 1-0 at St Mary's.

And the previous season he had been in goal for a 1-0 Premiership loss at St Mary's and the 4-0 thrashing in the FA Cup third round a few days later which kickstarted Saints' Millennium Stadium odyssey.