EXETER Chiefs boss Tony Rowe says he is at a loss to explain why ticket sales for Saturday's Devon derby are not going well.

The club announced this week that the clash with Plymouth Albion is no longer all-ticket, meaning fans can pay on the day.

Around 4,000 tickets have been sold in advance and last season 6,658 people watched the corresponding fixture at Sandy Park.

Rowe does not know whether the structure of the new Championship league or the recession are to blame.

But he thinks increased ticket prices at Sandy Park have not put people off as season ticket sales are up on last year and they also have more members.

"The ticket sales are not as strong as we would like them to be, but whether that's a result of the Championship or recession I don't know," he said.

"It's early in the season, we don't normally play Plymouth until later in the season. I doubt it has got anything to do with the price rises because our membership and season ticket sales are up.

"People like to support a winning side and we've had a fairly good start to the season. As long as that continues we would hope that our attendances would remain high."

The Chiefs had also made the games against the Cornish Pirates on November 14 and Bristol on December 27 all-ticket, but have also now reversed that decision.

Some Exeter Chiefs fans think price increases for food and drink as well as match tickets, coupled with the new play-off system in the league have combined to persuade some supporters to stay away.

The opening 22 games of the Championship are about clubs trying to get into the top eight to be involved in the promotion play-offs, with the bottom four involved in a relegation play-off.

Simon James said: "The way we've started the season we're going to be in the top eight, so there's less importance on the games at the start of the season.

"I'm still going to go to as many games as I can but I know people who are waiting to see what happens later in the year."

And Stephen Bowles said: "I've heard a few people grumbling about prices at the ground now, so that is not going to encourage people."

The ticket office at Sandy Park is open from 10am until 4pm on weekdays and from midday on Saturday.