NORTH End need an extra 5,000 fans to show up at Deepdale for every home game if the club is to stem £25,000-a-week losses.

For club chairman Derek Shaw, it is the second rallying cry in as many months for stay-away fans to return to Deepdale.

While gates last season were around the 12,000 mark, a disappointing start to this season has led to attendances tumbling close to the 10,000 mark.

Season tickets sales were down 800 on last year, too.

And in a division also populated by teams like Sunderland, Leeds and Wolves, who can regularly attract nearer 30,000 fans, Shaw knows he needs to get more bums on seats.

He told the club's AGM they needed to sustain regular gates of 18,000 to ensure they have the money to back Billy Davies' attempts to strengthen his squad.

And the extra numbers would make it easier to fend off transfer bids for some of the team's top players. A £600,000 bid for David Healy from Leeds has been knocked back, for now.

Scouts are regularly in attendance at Deepdale and long contracts still often aren't enough to deter Premiership sides from offering bids.

Shaw said: "We want to strengthen the squad, but we may have to sell as well. We may have to cash in on a player to bring in some money.

"Unless we get a benefactor, which we have never managed to do, it is clear we will have to sell. We will have to wheel and deal.

"In the current climate, if we spend money now we will have to find a way to pay it back at some point."

The sure-fire way to boost attendances is for the better results to continue.

For 75 minutes on Saturday, North End were excellent, and it is the sort of performance manager Billy Davies wants to see on a regular basis.

"Saturday was a good performance and I think things are getting better. We go from one game to the next, with the aim of winning.

"It is too soon to start talking about league tables. But we do appreciate the support of fans, and they can make a massive difference on a game."

North End's next home game is against Leeds a week on Saturday. Before that, North End travel to Ipswich and Coventry.