Championship spying allegations ahead of play-off semi-finals

Two of West Brom’s fellow Championship clubs have reportedly been involved in an allegation of spying ahead of the play-offs.

The Baggies had hopes of finishing in the top six this season but only just about managed to survive relegation.

On the other hand, Middlesbrough were one club pushing for automatic promotion but were forced to settle for the play-offs.

Elsewhere, Southampton turned around their early season struggles, thanks to a superb unbeaten run under Tonda Eckert to earn a play-off spot.

The pair are due to face each other in the end of season shoot-out, but there has been some controversy surrounding the build-up.

According to reports, the EFL are looking into an allegation from Boro that a member of the Southampton staff had been secretly filming a training session in the bushes at their Rockliffe Park training ground, two days before the first leg.

Reports have stated that an individual was approached by Boro staff after allegedly recording their training session.

The footage and pictures were reportedly then deleted from a phone before the individual left the area.

Reports have claimed Boro have raised the issue with the EFL, which is similar to one that landed Leeds United with a £200k fine in 2019.

The alleged incident, dubbed Spygate, saw a member of Leeds staff caught watching Derby County training with their manager Marcelo Bielsa admitting he organised it.

It is the latest difficult issue the EFL is going to have to deal with - just weeks after they imposed a two point sanction on Albion for financial issues, days before the end of the season.