City's home crowds are UP on pre-season predictions.

That is the defiant response from the club to fears that plummeting attendances following relegation to League One will hamper their chances of getting back on an even keel.

Steering committee chairman Jim Brown dismissed fears that gates hovering around the 7,000 mark for two of the four games at Valley Parade have set the alarm bells clanging.

And he revealed that the club are budgeting their cash projections on a crowd average of 7,600 over the campaign.

Brown said: "Bearing in mind what sort of season we've had so far, I think the home attendances to date have been slightly in excess of what we would have budgeted for.

"Our average at the moment is touching 8,000, which is above the figure that we set as a realistic target. But having said that, we would obviously love to see more fans through the turnstiles.

"When the club do come out of administration, we will still carry some baggage. We have got to get into a position where we are spending less than we are bringing in and that is going to take time.

"If we could put another ten per cent on the attendances then that aim could be achieved six months quicker."

Gates have dropped every year since City were relegated from the Premiership in 2001. Last season they averaged 11,377 despite losing 14 of the 23 home matches.

But the current figure is still well above the 5,708 mark for the last time the club were playing in the third tier of league football eight years ago.

The 10,443 crowd for the visit of Yorkshire rivals Doncaster is the biggest of the season so far. And City are hoping for another five-figure turn-out this weekend against promotion favourites Bristol City.

The west country side, managed by former City player Brian Tinnion, have recovered after a poor start with three straight wins and are expected to bring a good away support. Bristol are likely to fill the 1,300 seats in the TL Dallas Stand and may also be given three sections on Midland Road.

Saturday's game is the start of a tough run against highly-fancied teams with Swindon and Barnsley to follow.

Brown said: "We are in there fighting but this was always going to be a very difficult month in front of us. The next three teams will all be in the top half and likely to be up there challenging, so it will be a realistic gauge of our progress."