AS3 and php vars

Hi there!

when I load vars from my php file the spotsNum var that is loaded is “.$i” instead of 2.

The php file is
<?php
$i = 2;
echo “&spotsNum=”.$i."&successMessage=ok&end=end";
?>

And at the flash file
function submitToPHP()
{
var variables:URLVariables=new URLVariables;
var request:URLRequest=new URLRequest;
request.url=“sendvars2.php”;
request.method=URLRequestMethod.POST;
request.data=variables;

		var loader:URLLoader=new URLLoader(request);
		loader.dataFormat=URLLoaderDataFormat.VARIABLES;
		loader.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,completeHandler);
		try
		{
			loader.load(request);
			trace("sending");
		}
		catch (error:Error)
		{
			trace(error.message);
			trace("unable");
		}
	}
	function completeHandler(event:Event):void
	{
		trace(event.target.data.spotsNum);
	}

Can anybody help?
Thanks

just wondering if anybody found a solution to this problem yet…