Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic reacts to "unbelievable" Middlesbrough/Southampton 'Spygate’ | OneFootball

The Tigers boss learned of the controversies following his team's goalless first leg semi-final v Millwall

The Championship play-off semi-finals got underway on Friday night with Hull City and Millwall playing out a tense stalemate at the MKM Stadium in their first leg.

Despite there being three places and 10 points separating the Tigers and Lions throughout the Championship's 46-game regular season, it was a cagey affair in HU3, leaving the outcome of this particular semi-final to be decided at The Den on Monday evening in front of yet another sell-out crowd.

The encounter wasn't without controversy, though, as Ryan Leonard saw a goal disallowed for the visitors five minutes from time as Tristan Crama was adjudged to have fouled Charlie Hughes in the build-up, but such developments pale in comparison to the main talking points surrounding the other semi-final tie between Middlesbrough and Southampton.

Kim Hellberg and Tonda Eckert's sides have endured extremely contrasting seasons, with the latter only being defeated once in all competitions since January 17th, enjoying a major surge up the table to finish inside the play-offs and have a shot at winning the post-season lottery for the second time in as many years, having defeated Leeds United at Wembley Stadium in May 2024.

However, in the lead-up to the first of those semi-finals at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday afternoon, plenty of comparisons have been drawn between the West Yorkshire and South Coast sides due to a controversial 'spygate' accusation coming to the fore, which has since been investigated by the EFL.

With Hull set to potentially face off against one of the two sides involved should they overcome Alex Neil's team in the second leg, Jakirovic issued an interesting response when finding out about the pre-game drama.

Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic reacts to "unbelievable" Middlesbrough, Southampton spygate situation

Indeed, it had initially been alleged that a Southampton staff member had been 'spying' on Middlesbrough's pre-game training at Rockliffe Park, with the EFL subsequently charging the Hampshire club on Friday night for a breach of regulations.

Back in 2019, Leeds were found guilty of spying on a Derby County training session and were fined £200,000, although the extent of the current charge for Saints is yet to be revealed.

It has been reported that Boro staff had spotted the figure taking pictures and videos of a training session, and was asked to delete the footage immediately, provide his identity and intentions, with it being claimed he then moved to an indoor section of the club's training complex.

It has also been reported that the figure tried to change appearance before leaving the North East side's facilities, with Southampton subsequently confirming they are 'cooperating' with the governing body over the matter.'

Whilst having a main focus on Hull's goalless draw with the Lions, Jakirovic was asked for his thoughts on the developments, and responded: "Why (do) you need to 'spy'. We've played (each other) already.

"I know everything about every team. So what, Middlesbrough and Kim (Hellberg) will surprise them (Southampton) by putting 14 players on the pitch," the Bosnian joked.

Sergej Jakirovic will still hope Hull City can become a feel-good story of EFL Championship play-offs

Unsurprisingly, such controversial developments on Teesside dominated discourse surrounding both semi-final first legs heading into the weekend, and will no doubt continue to do so, irrespective of the result.

However, Jakirovic himself will hope City can eventually come out as the feel-good story of the play-offs between now and May 23rd, with it all still to play for in SE16 in what will be a hostile atmosphere, particularly after instances of crowd trouble in East Yorkshire in the latter stages of Friday's tie.

Having defeated the Lions 3-1 in London back on December 13th, the Bosnian will have an inkling about what is required to emerge victorious away from home, but Neil and his team will also fancy their chances on home soil, after ending the first game as the team in the ascendancy after City failed to make their earlier periods of pressure tell.