Hull City can bookend Southampton's season perfectly - Tonda Eckert will be worried | OneFootball

The Tigers are the only side to have done the double over Saints this season

Hull City's season has been a remarkable tale in the face of such adversity, both on and off the pitch.

Written off by almost everyone outside the walls of the MKM Stadium at the time Sergej Jakirovic became the latest head coach of Acun Ilicali's ownership tenure in East Yorkshire, such developments have created an unbreakable team spirit amongst the Bosnian, his coaching staff and the players.

Unsurprisingly, no wins in seven heading into the final day of the regular Championship season saw City unfancied to seal a play-off place for the first time in a decade, but their mentality, mainly showcased through Oli McBurnie and his two goals, dragged them over the line after falling behind to Norwich City.

Again, the Tigers were instantly unfancied against third-placed Millwall over two legs in the semi-finals, with a 10-point gap separating the two sides at the end of the season, although both regular-season clashes were certainly dominated by Jakirovic's men.

Having already made a blueprint for success against the Lions, particularly at The Den, they did it once more as the 49-year-old's tactical operation of switching to a five-back defence, as well as the introductions of Mohamed Belloumi and Joe Gelhardt, swung the pendulum in City's favour, with their season now going the distance as a result.

They have since learned that, in rather controversial circumstances, Southampton lie in wait in North London next weekend, with a place in the Premier League on the line.

Given Saints' recent pedigree as a top-flight club, Tonda Eckert's side have already been fancied to emerge victorious in a second play-off final within as many years, but that won't faze Hull.

Hull City have already caused Southampton several issues this season

The final, of course, sees neither side gain an 'advantage' in terms of support, but the Tigers will certainly be feeling confident by the fact they have caused Saints several issues in both games so far this season.

A fluid attack and a strong delivery from wide areas in both open play and set-pieces has proven to be the cause of Southampton's downfall against the Yorkshire side, under both Eckert and Will Still, who oversaw the 3-1 defeat at the MKM Stadium on September 20th.

The goal which epitomised why City are not a side who should see their actual attacking play compared by statistics, and more so their efficiency under Jakirovic, was John Lundstram's 59th-minute strike in the aforementioned home win, as they broke at speed, turning defence into attack, with the midfielder breaking into the box to finish Oli McBurnie's knockdown from Lewie Coyle's hanging cross.

And, for as good as the South Coast have been, scoring 28 set-piece goals this season compared to Hull's league-low of nine, they were on the end of two of those when McBurnie powered home a teasing Ryan Giles delivery in the first fixture, before Charlie Hughes was also left unmarked to glance home a header after 34 minutes at St Mary's.

Even beforehand, City's intensity on and off the ball saw them force an error from Ryan Manning for Kyle Joseph's second of the season against the Saints, despite the fact Eckert's men had double the number of attempts in the 2-1 away triumph.

The win on January 17th was also achieved without the services of 11 senior players, who were injured or suspended at the time, with such tactical precision from Jakirovic proving to be a running theme as to why City took 35 of their 73 points away from the MKM Stadium.

Hull City have the chance to bookend Southampton's resurgence under Tonda Eckert

With all the goings-on in both semi-finals, City have certainly received plenty of backing from neutrals given Saints' involvement in what is being dubbed 'spygate 2.0' after an intern analyst was alleged to have photographed and recorded Middlesbrough training sessions in the lead-up to their two-legged affair.

Therefore, it also seems rather ironic that Middlesbrough, on one hand, were the side whose 2-2 draw at Wrexham on May 2nd allowed the Tigers to return to sixth with 23 minutes of the regular season to play, and that now Jakirovic's team have the chance to bookend Saints' season perfectly.

Eckert's press conference against Hull in January took a mightily long time to get underway, with the German feeling the heat at that particular moment, although it kickstarted a 19-game unbeaten run in the Championship, coinciding with a run to the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, in which Saints were narrowly beaten by Manchester City.

Therefore, much like the Tigers between 2014 and 2016, Saints have secured three Wembley trips, with the squads from their two play-off finals and that semi-final full of experience.

However, as many teams have learned this season, favouritsm and big-game experience can certainly go out of the window against the Bosnian and his chargers.