Southampton are just hours away from their play-off semi-final second leg with Middlesbrough, and there will be nerves aplenty on the South coast.
Since the goalless draw in the North-East, this fixture has been surrounded by controversy due to the whole spy-gate issue, but come Tuesday night, it will all be about the second leg and who advances to the play-off final at Wembley Stadium.
Saints fans need to be aware of one thing
Confidence is high among the Saints, especially given the superb run they have been on in this calendar year. It has felt like a train that cannot be stopped, and the goalless draw in the away leg only increased confidence among fans, but Saints fans need to be acutely aware of a Middlesbrough factor.
Boro's momentum may be very different to that of Southampton's, given they effectively botched an automatic promotion, ending up in the play-offs despite controlling second place for much of the season.
But what has remained steady is their away form. In fact, when it comes to away form, Boro have only been bettered by two Championship teams this season. Millwall and Coventry City picked up 41 and 40 points respectively during the season, with both sides winning 11 games away from home.
Boro won 10 on the road and picked up 38 points overall, two points better than Southampton, who were the fourth best away team in the Championship.
That's why Southampton need to be rather careful when approaching this second leg, and they surely will be having failed to beat Boro so far this season. The Saints first drew to Boro at home and they went on to lose 4-0 in the second meeting.
Eckert issues clear half-time message
Speaking ahead of this game, Saints boss Tonda Eckert said: "We are at half-time now and I think you can interpret this in many different ways. In the end it's important that we bring it to our side on Tuesday and I think that the crowd and the supporters are going to give us a very big lift.
"The boys were outstanding over 90 minutes (on Saturday) and we take lots of the positives into the game on Tuesday."
Fans will indeed be important, but these second legs so often come down to which team holds their nerve on the big occasion, and there is no ignoring that this game now has the extra pressure of the scandal that surrounds it. You could argue there is more pressure on Southampton, too, given they are the accused in the situation, although Eckert and his men would be wise to adopt an us against the world mentality as they bid to end this superb run with promotion back to the Premier League.
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