FORGET the hard-working players and manager -- an American woman reckons Preston North End's promotion to Division One is down to her prayer sessions!

Patti, from Illinois, a deeply-religious mother-of-seven started supporting the club in 1997 after she met a discouraged fan on the Internet, who revealed that the club had been struggling for decades.

She said: "I met a truly devoted, but discouraged, fan who painted a picture of the greatest of all English football teams

"It really touched my heart, so I offered to pray for this foreign team. I eagerly began following PNE's progress online."

Patti, born with a hereditary genetic disorder called Porphyria, turned to religion after she claimed to be 'miraculously cured'. She got to know hundreds of PNE fans by subscribing to their e-mail list and eventually met many exiled fans in a chatroom during the games. She added: "We discussed our hunger to have closer contact with the team and the games and found a voice programme to use on the 'Net."

The group now has around 100 people meeting every match and listen to live commentary from Deepdale. And no match has given her more pleasure than the championship celebrations at Deepdale.

She said: "The excitement in the chatroom is comparable to attending the game, but on a smaller scale. Many other PNE supporters are agreeing in prayer now, too.

"The recent joy of hearing them win the championship was an emotional experience for me, even from this distance. The tears in our chatroom flowed freely, and the intense feelings were expressed in large founts, bright colours, and an abundance of exclamation marks!

"We even sang and applauded with the crowd the following Saturday during the championship celebration - it was wonderful!"

A spokesman for Preston North End said: "I couldn't say that all our success is down to Patti, but every little bit of support helps and I'm sure everyone at the club is thankful for her prayers and help."