Southampton boss Tonda Eckert walked out of a tetchy post-match press conference having repeatedly sidestepped questions about ‘spygate’ following the Championship play-off semi-final clash at Middlesbrough.
Saints were charged with breaching EFL regulations on the eve of the first leg after Boro accused a member of staff from the south coast club of snooping on training before scarpering.
The furore fired up Middlesbrough and they flew out of the blocks at a rocking Riverside Stadium, where Tommy Conway had the best of the hosts’ 17 first-half chances.
But Southampton settled and Taylor Harwood-Bellis saw a header hit the crossbar late in a 0-0 draw that sets things up nicely for Tuesday’s Wembley decider at St Mary’s.
“We are at half-time now,” head coach Eckert said. “I think especially if you go away on the first leg, you know that there are some energy that you need to come up against, especially at the beginning of the game.
“I think the boys have done that in an outstanding manner and then we have two big (chances) towards the end to win it, so, yeah, we’re half-time now and take it into Tuesday.”
Hull or Millwall await the winner of Tuesday’s play-off at St Mary’s, where ‘spygate’ will again be a key theme – not that Eckert will be engaging on it.
“I think the club has made a statement yesterday evening,” he said. “I think that’s all there is to say at the moment.
“I think we can talk about this and I know that these questions are coming up, but I think we shouldn’t get distracted by the importance of those two big games.
“The big games always belong to the players and I think they deserve that the focus is on them.”
Reporters in the press conference disagreed, with Eckert peppered with a variety of questions about the situation before Southampton’s communications director interjected.
The Saints boss eventually walked out of the press conference after seven minutes as questions continued about ‘spygate’ on a day when Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg faced just as many about the subject.
Asked if he was tempted to change his original plans, he said: “We tried to focus on the game as much as ever possible, to try to win it in the way we believe, in the way that is preparing a game.
“You can’t, you can go mental if you’re going to think ‘has he seen this? what is the footage’?
“Again, we have to try to win the game in an honest way. That’s what we tried to do today and I’m very proud of that.
“That was one of the best first halves I’ve seen on English soil since I arrived, to be fair. It was like watching an unbelievable game of football and I’m so proud of that.
“It’s sad that your first 10 questions are about that when you witness that first off from a team in the Championship, but I understand.”
