THE two frontrunners to buy Saints insist they remain in the mix to complete a purchase of the club as anxious fans desperately await more developments.

Both the Matt Le Tissier backed Pinnacle group and a consortium containing Marc Jackson, which is being led by businessman Stuart Green and whose bid is understood to be worth a potential total of £15m, have confirmed to the Daily Echo that they are still pursuing their interests in the club.

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Speculation remains over a third mystery bidder waiting in the wings, Echo reporters write.

Administrator Mark Fry has been locked in days of meetings to try to get to the stage of having a preferred bidder and said on Monday he expected to have made an announcement to that effect by the end of yesterday. However, yet another day came and went without developments.

Encouraging news for Saints fans is that the potential purchasers still appear to have a covetous eye cast towards St Mary’s and things could still move forward quickly.

A source close to the bid fronted by Green told the Daily Echo last night that their offer is for an initial £8m with a further £2m deferred and another £5m dependant on promotions, ultimately back to the Premiership.

The source added that the bid had been lodged for over a week and has £500,000 by way of an advance ready to go to cover this month’s wage bill.

Pinnacle were last night understood to be trying to get themselves into a position to be Fry’s preferred bidder. Le Tissier, backing a bid managed by Pinnacle rather than fronting it, spoke briefly about the situation as he re-opened the Pilgrim Inn pub in Marchwood which started life in 1976, Saints’ FA Cup final winning year.

He said: “Things are ongoing and it would be wrong of me to say any more at the moment.”

Le Tissier said an initial announcement would be made by the administrator. Asked yesterday lunchtime when that was likely to be he said: “Possibly within the next 24 hours.”

When contacted by the Daily Echo, former Centerprise director Green wouldn’t comment on precise financial details but insisted he hasn’t given up on landing the club for his consortium and hopes a decision will be made sooner rather than later.

Green said: “We are still in the mix, but that is probably about all I can say at this stage. It is really down to Mark Fry now to see what he does. He was supposedly meant to make a decision today (yesterday), but every day that goes by is another day lost. The danger is that if the administrator doesn’t take any offers then the club is still spending money and as an administrator he has a fairly tight set of terms of reference.

“Regardless of what the bid is, it does not take a rocket scientist to know how much you need to run the facility. I think everyone is feeling the pressure and I hope there is a resolution soon, whether it is our group or a competitor’s bid. My overriding concern is to ensure that the club survives.”

Fry was unavailable for comment.