Tonda Eckert takes action after 'cheat' allegation in Southampton's Spygate saga | OneFootball

The South Coast club progressed to the play-off final at Wembley Stadium after defeating Middlesbrough.

After a night of relative dominance, Southampton found a way past valiant Middlesbrough to progress to the Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium, but it was a night shrouded in controversy.

Kim Hellberg's side took the lead early on at St Mary's through Riley McGree, only for Ross Stewart to find an equaliser on the stroke of half-time as the clash went to extra-time.

Both teams were evidently knackered with the tie heading to penalties, only for a Shea Charles cross to find its way past the helpless Sol Brynn and send Southampton to the home of football to face Hull City.

And when you thought the drama on the pitch was enough, things got even more theatrical during Tonda Eckert's press conference after the game.

Tonda Eckert storms out of Southampton press conference

While every play-off tie has an air of tension around it, this one felt particularly pungent given the events that had unfolded before a ball had even been kicked in the first leg.

Ahead of the clash at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough caught a Southampton first-team analyst recording their training session while hiding in a bush, which triggered an EFL investigation.

When questioned about what had happened in the North East during his press conference, Saints boss Tonda Eckert walked out of his press conference.

After a whirlwind couple of days, the incident was coined 'spygate', and there have been reports swirling that the South Coast club could be punished with anything from a fine to being kicked out of the play-offs altogether.

Naturally, Eckert was questioned about the matter again following his side's victory, and a reporter simply asked if he was a cheat.

However, before the German could even respond, his press officer said, "Thank you very much, show some respect, yeah, well done," before escorting the head coach out of the press conference.

Now the football world waits to discover what Southampton's punishment will be and whether it could have them kicked out of the play-offs entirely.

What is Southampton's punishment likely to be?

There has been a lot of noise around the punishment that Saints could receive, so it is important to look at the facts as well as the past to see if they can provide us with any clues.

Firstly, the EFL has a transparent ruling on spying, which prohibits any club from “directly or indirectly observing” another team's training session 72 hours before they are set to play each other on the pitch.

Rule 127 was introduced to stop teams from gaining an unfair advantage from watching how another side could line up or plan to deploy set-pieces, stating that “each club shall behave towards each other and the league with the utmost good faith”.

Given that this particular incident occurred approximately 48 hours before the first leg kicked off at the Riverside, it seems the South Coasters have allegedly breached this rule.

This has happened before, in 2019 to be precise, when Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa ordered one of his analysts to observe Derby County's training session ahead of a meeting between the two sides.

Leeds were then fined £200,000 and were ironically beaten by Frank Lampard's Derby, while the punishment was meant to deter others from doing so again, but clearly that has not worked.

There is every chance that Southampton's punishment would be more severe, given the weight of the fixture and past events, although it is likely that they would receive a heftier fine, not play-off expulsion.

With the play-off final between Saints and Hull City