SAINTS coach Kevin Bond believes Saints can still get out of relegation trouble - if they stop conceding goals like at Fratton.

Bond, like Jim Smith and Nigel Quashie, followed Harry Redknapp from Portsmouth to Saints and yesterday's clash at Fratton Park marked a return to his old employers too.

But it was a deeply unhappy one, with Saints getting beaten 4-1 and remaining at the bottom of the table with three games left.

With Norwich at home, Crystal Palace away and Manchester United at St Mary's on the final day of the season, there are still nine points left to play for and Bond believes Saints can still do enough to retain their Prem-iership status. He said: "Everybody thinks that's us dead and buried and, if we concede goals like we did here, then we will be.

"Thankfully, we have still got to play the sides around us and if we beat them then we go above them."

He added: "We're desperately disappointed. We didn't really give ourselves a chance going behind so early on.

"We'd played ourselves out of the game before we had a chance to get in it.

"I think the second half was not a fair reflection on us or them. They were 4-1 up and it was easy for them and impossible for us.

"We took the pressure off Portsmouth by conceding early and then another one.

"We got ourselves back in the game and then conceded another one.

"The keeper came out for something but it would be hard to criticise Antti because he's been colossal for us."

Bond admits that Saints don't have a lot of options in terms of changing the team for the final three games of the season and that it's going to be down to the same group of players to keep them up.

He said: "We've got what we've got and we've used all the players we've got at our disposal.

"We play what we believe is the best team and the best system.

"Obviously if you're shipping goals you need to have a look at it."

Peter Crouch dealt Saints a massive blow when he injured his hamstring in the warm up and was forced to miss the match. The club are waiting to see how serious the injury is.

Redknapp decided to put Henri Camara up front but Bond says he won't use Crouch's injury as an excuse for the defeat.

"We were slightly aware of the problem before the game but we were thinking he was OK and he said he was OK," he said.

"But come the warm up he realised he wasn't going to be able to play so we had to make the decision to change but we don't use that as an excuse."