Southampton spy chance to advance after goalless draw at Middlesbrough

The chants from Middlesbrough fans about Southampton’s spying are likely to linger in the memory far longer than a playoff semi-final that promised far more than it delivered. While Southampton will start Tuesday’s second leg as favourites, Boro cannot be discounted after dominating large tracts of a tie thoroughly overshadowed by a spying scandal.

Slate grey rain clouds shrouded the Cleveland Hills and it seemed emblematic of the chill gloom enveloping the visitors after Middlesbrough accused one of Southampton’s analysts of spying on a training sessions and resulted in a misconduct charge from the Football League.