The EFL have been contacted by Middlesbrough after claiming that they have caught a suspected Saints spy at their training ground Rockliffe filming their training sessions this week.

Teesside Live have reported that Boro are understood to have caught a male recording clips of manager Kim Hellberg’s training session at Rockliffe on Thursday.

They say that upon being confronted, it’s understood the individual deleted the footage and refused to identify himself before he was ejected from the land, which is privately owned by Boro owner Steve Gibson.

They go on to claim that it is suspected that the individual was there on behalf of Southampton, and Boro have reported the incident to the EFL, ahead of Saturday’s play-off semi-final against the Saints at the Riverside.

There is history of something of this nature happening in the Championship when back in 2019, Leeds United were fined after then manager Marcello Bielsa admitted that he had spent spies to watch Derby County training sessions ahead of a clash between the two sides. At the time, no such rule prevented it, but Leeds were fined over breaches of a rule around treating teams with ‘good faith’.

After that incident the EFL created new rules which prohibit any side to view their opposition’s training sessions up to 72 hours before a game and so Saints could find themselves in hot water from the EFL.

All Photos Via Reuters