HERE is the good news for all Saints fans worried that their team could be engaged in a season-long battle against relegation: Your club is the great Premiership survivor!

Saints entered November entrenched in the bottom three after winning just one of their opening 11 league fixtures - and that courtesy of a last-minute penalty against Blackburn way back in August.

But being in the relegation zone at the start of the month is NO guarantee that relegation will follow next May.

After all, as our graphic illustrates, no fewer than FIVE times have Saints been in the bottom three on November 1 since the Premiership was introduced in 1992 - and on each occasion they have survived.

That was the good news. Here is the bad news - two-thirds of the teams in the bottom three on November 1 in the last three seasons HAVE been relegated.

And the statistics show that a team is MORE likely to go down in May if they have been in the drop zone in early November.

Since the Premiership was introduced in 1992/93, 19 teams in the relegation area at the beginning of November have NOT managed to pull clear of danger - leaving only 17, of which Saints have accounted for almost a third of those occasions, escaping the dreaded drop.

So an overall view of Saints' current situation can be summed up by asking the following question - how full do you see a half-full glass of beer?

If you see the glass half-empty, then you'll be worried there's a more than 50 per cent chance Saints will be relegated this season.

If you see the glass half full, you'll relive the five successful escapes and think 'why can't we make it six?'

And it's obvious that a poor start doesn't equal disaster.

Last season Bolton were occupying the same position Saints currently hold down, 18th, at the beginning of November. Yet they pulled clear to finish eighth and are now fourth. The previous year Sam Allardyce's men were BOTTOM yet survived

Only three years ago Saints were in an even worse position than they are at the moment - indeed if they lose to West Brom on Saturday they will have seven points from 12 games ... exactly the same return from the same amount of games that they had in 2001/02, when they finished in 11th place.

And for those of you who are the eternal optimists, Everton went into November 1994 without a win in any of their first 12 matches. Yet they finished the campaign in mid-table safety AND won the FA Cup for good measure.

So history has shown there is no need to get overly worried by a dismal start.

Yey that's not to say Saints should just assume the Gods will smile on them as they have done in the past.

And if their favourites fail to get any more than two points from the next two home games then statistics will be meaningless in the eyes of many fans.

In order to mount a successful relegation escape bid, Saints need ALL their fans to keep the faith - as Dell legend Francis Benali stated in a recent Daily Echo interview.

But how hard will that be if the Baggies and that lot down the M27 go away from St Mary's undefeated ...