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  1. 'One of the toughest days of my career' - Hellbergpublished at 01:15 BST 13 May

    Media caption,

    Hellberg: 'feeling empty' following Boro play-off heartbreak

    Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg described their defeat away at Southampton 'as one of the toughest days' in his coaching career.

    Boro took an early lead at St Mary's before going on to lose the play-off semi-final in extra time, as Shea Charles swung a cross into the area that ran all the way through into the net.

    This result means Boro miss out on the play-off final after finishing fifth in the Championship standings.

    "It feels tough, over two legs we did unbelievably and were so dominant in the first leg," Hellberg told BBC Radio Tees.

    "We had to fight for the last half an hour, we had chances on the transition but we didn't get much out of them.

    "It's a cross for the goal that goes in, there's emotions everywhere from this, I have every emotion and feeling that is possible to have in my body at this time.

    "This is one of the toughest days in my career as a football coach, I feel for everyone around the club and I wish I could have done more.

    "I'm unbelievably proud of everyone, for everything that happened through the season and they have played football that I am proud to watch."

  2. Pick of the stats: Southampton v Middlesbroughpublished at 10:44 BST 11 May

    Club badges bannerImage source, Opta

    Southampton and Middlesbrough's promotion destiny will be decided when they meet at St Mary's in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final on Tuesday (20:00 BST).

    The sides played out a goalless draw in the first leg at The Riverside on Saturday and extra-time and penalties may be needed to determine which side progresses to the final at Wembley on 23 May to face either Millwall or Hull City, who play their second leg at The Den on Monday night.

    • Southampton are winless in each of their past five matches in all competitions against Middlesbrough (D3 L2) since doing the league double over them in the Premier League in 2016-17 (1-0 at home, 2-1 away).

    • In all competitions under Tonda Eckert, Southampton have lost only once at home – a 1-2 loss to Hull City in January – winning 13 of the other 18 matches (D5); their past two games at St Mary's have finished 2-2 against Bristol City and Ipswich Town in April.

    • Middlesbrough are unbeaten in each of their past six away games in all competitions, all coming in the Championship (W2 D4), drawing each of their past four on the road, with the past three all ending 2-2.

    • For only the third time in second tier play-off history, both first leg semi-final ties finished goalless, though Middlesbrough's xG in the first leg (1.82) was more than the other three sides combined (1.63).

    • Southampton are aiming to reach the Championship play-off final for the second time, and first time since 2024, earning promotion with a 1-0 win over Leeds United after also finishing that campaign in fourth place.

    • Middlesbrough are looking to reach the Championship play-off final for the first time since losing the 2015 final 2-0 to Norwich City; they've been eliminated in both play-off semi-final appearances since in 2018 and 2023, though drew both of their away legs 0-0 on those occasions.

    • Southampton goalkeeper, Daniel Peretz, made four saves in the first leg against Middlesbrough; in the regular season only Carl Rushworth (7.72) and Radek Vítek (7.15) prevented more goals based on Opta's expected goals model than his 6.48 (18 goals conceded excluding own goals, 24.48 expected goals on target conceded).

    • Middlesbrough's Matt Targett created more chances than anyone else across both first-leg ties of this season's Championship semi-final play-offs (4), all of which came from open play. Indeed, in the regular Championship season, the only defender to create more chances from open play than Targett (44) was Jay Dasilva (46).

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