THE agonising wait for a deal to save Saints continues, after talks yesterday failed to yield an announcement.

Administrator Mark Fry met with one of the frontrunners – believed to be the Matt Le Tissier-backed Pinnacle group.

However, no announcement about a preferred bidder was made by the close of play.

As revealed in yesterday's Daily Echo, Fry is hoping to align himself to a prospective purchaser before the end of today.

Whoever is chosen as the preferred bidder would then be granted a period of exclusivity to complete a purchase of the club.

During this period of time no other offer can be accepted for the club and it would give the winning bidder the chance to go through the books even more thoroughly and proceed with all the fine detail that needs to be completed.

If Fry’s timetable is correct, then any announcement will be dependent on negotiations with interested parties moving forward this morning and this afternoon.

Daily Echo: See today's paper for more on this story