Southampton midfielder names Middlesbrough moment as key to beating Hull City

Southampton playoff hero Shea Charles hails the side’s collective response in the Middlesbrough comeback as crucial ahead of the upcoming Wembley final.

The playoff saga between Southampton and Middlesbrough remains a talking point long after the final whistle. Though Boro are pushing to have Southampton expelled from the playoff final, the scoreboard showed that the Saints were the better side in the decisive leg.

Despite being cornered in the first leg days after the Spygate incident broke, Southampton came back from 1‑0 down in the second leg to win 2‑1 in extra time.

While the win had its heroes, as any Saints victory does, playoff hero Shea Charles pinpointed the collective spirit as the decisive factor. As quoted by the Daily Echo, Charles said: “Even on Tuesday, conceding early, there was a completely different feeling compared to if we had conceded an early goal back then.”

Charles added: “We are so together as a team, and we feel as if nothing can stop us at the moment, but we have one more game to focus on, and hopefully we can win.”

Shea Charles motivates teammates with Middlesbrough comeback

Such squad cohesion and positive dressing room environment at St. Mary’s reassure fans ahead of the playoff final. But the significance of these words is elevated further when they come from playoff semi‑final hero Shea Charles himself.

Southampton didn’t have the best of starts in the second leg. Going 1‑0 down within the first five minutes in front of their own fans added to the existing pressure after they had barely scraped a 0‑0 draw in the first leg.

But as Charles explained, Southampton’s response was much calmer. Unlike the first half of the season, the side were confident in their ability to come back even after trailing early in a decisive semi‑final.

Southampton’s squad unity will be key amidst Spygate controversy

There’s no denying that exceptional individual performances like Charles’s eased Southampton’s path to Wembley. But without the squad’s unity and collective belief after going behind, none of it would have been possible.

The first half of the 2025/26 campaign illustrated how an unmotivated dressing room held the Saints back in their pursuit of automatic promotion. That’s now in the past, and fans can take comfort that the group stands united in the decisive phase of the season.

It’s no secret that Southampton have been the subject of media speculation ahead of the biggest game of their campaign. Being held responsible for influencing the Spygate incident, the possibility of exclusion remains on the table if the club is deemed guilty.

In that scenario, the importance of Southampton standing united as a group increases further. A collective spirit has already helped the Saints pull off some iconic comebacks in the second half of the season, and that factor will be most influential when they line up against Hull next week.

Notably, Southampton’s last defeat in the 2025/26 league campaign came at the hands of Hull back in January. Added to that, a 3‑1 thrashing against Sergej Jakirović’s side in the first half of the season means Hull remains one of the few sides the Saints haven’t defeated all season.

Factor in a 2‑1 defeat when the two sides met in the 2023/24 Championship campaign, and it’s now three defeats in a row for Southampton against the Tigers.

If Southampton are to improve that record, they will need to step up collectively one final time in their pursuit of Premier League football. Should they display the same spirit as in the comeback against Middlesbrough, they can carve their way to the top flight despite the controversy currently surrounding them.