Southampton

Southampton boss Tonda Eckert spoke to BBC Radio Solent after Saturday's 2-1 win against Derby County.

"It was our best game of the week, the boys were outstanding today. It was a top, top, top performance," he said.

"Every game has its own story. We were clearly on top in the first half and then conceded off a corner, which can happen. Then to keep pushing and to have the energy and belief to come back was outstanding today.

"There is a reason we are so close to Derby in the table, they have picked up so many points lately.

"There are no easy games, and just because you have won some games in the past you have to keep going to earn it again and again, and the boys did that very well."

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The EFL has announced the fixtures for the 2026-27 season will be published at midday on Thursday, 25 June.

The first-round draws for the Carabao Cup and the Vertu Trophy will be made on the same day.

The new season will kick off on the weekend of August 7-9 with the first round of the Carabao Cup, and the opening fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two will follow a week later on 14-16 August.

The first round of the Vertu Trophy will be played in the week commencing 21 September.

Image source, EFL

Millwall striker Josh Coburn has been named the Championship's player of the month for March.

The 23-year-old scored three goals last month as the Lions won two, drew one and lost one of their four matches.

Coburn scored the winning goal against Derby and an important equaliser at promotion rivals Ipswich with his tally for the season currently standing at nine.

It is the second successive month a Millwall player has won the award with winger Femi Azeez taking the February prize.

West Brom defender George Campbell, Southampton goalkeeper Daniel Peretz and Derby defender Matt Clarke were also nominated.

Millwall visit West Brom on Friday night (20:00 BST).

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Southampton's Tonda Eckert has been named the Championship's manager of the month for March.

The Saints went unbeaten in the league last month, winning three and drawing one of their four games including a victory at the leaders Coventry.

The Sky Blues' Frank Lampard, Matt Bloomfield of Oxford United and West Brom interim boss James Morrison were also nominated.

Eckert also won the award in February when Southampton were again unbeaten and have continued their good form into April, moving into the play-off places as well as reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

They meet Derby at home on Saturday (15:00 BST).

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Southampton have been granted permission to wear their commemorative shirt when they play Manchester City in the FA Cup semi final.

The special yellow strip marks 50 years since they won the FA Cup in 1976 against Manchester United.

Saints have worn the kit in all of their previous rounds of the competition this season, beating Doncaster, Leicester, Fulham and Arsenal on the way to Wembley.

The FA has confirmed the match will be played on Saturday 25 April, kicking off at 17:15 BST.

Saints have been allocated the west end of Wembley – the same end their fans were in for the 2024 Championship play-off final when they beat Leeds United.

They booked their spot in the semi-finals with a memorable win over Premier League leaders Arsenal when Ross Stewart and Shea Charles fired them to victory.

The game will be broadcast live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

Southampton are hoping for a sixth successive win in all competitions having reached the FA Cup semi-finals with a victory over Arsenal last weekend and won 5-1 at Wrexham on Tuesday to move into the Championship play-off places.

Derby have won as many games away as they have at home this season (9) but were beaten at Coventry on their last road trip.

• Southampton have lost just one of their past 10 league games against Derby (W3 D6), going down 1-0 at home in February 2007.

• This is Derby's first away league game against Southampton since February 2012, when they lost 4-0 under Nigel Clough.

• Since Tonda Eckert's first game in charge of Southampton on 5 November, the Saints have picked up the most points (54) and scored the most goals (55) of any Championship side.

• John Eustace has picked up 84 points in 55 Championship games with Derby County (W24 D12 L19), the fifth-most of any side since his first game in charge last February.

• Finn Azaz has been involved in eight goals in his past 12 home league starts for Southampton (5 goals, 3 assists), including three in his last three (2 goals, 1 assist).

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Oxford United's Matt Bloomfield, Tonda Eckert of Southampton, West Brom interim boss James Morrison and Coventry's Frank Lampard have all been nominated for the March Championship manager of the month award.

Bloomfield led Oxford to seven points from their four games last month to give them hope of avoiding relegation from the Championship, while Eckert's Southampton went unbeaten in March - and won at leaders Coventry.

Morrison was handed the task of lifting West Brom clear of the bottom three and took eight points from an unbeaten four-game run.

Coventry have continued their charge towards the Premier League, with Lampard overseeing three wins and just that one blemish in the defeat by Southampton.

Southampton goalkeeper Daniel Peretz and West Brom defender George Campbell are nominated for the player of the month award along with Millwall striker Josh Coburn and Derby defender Matt Clarke.

The winners of both awards will be announced on Friday morning.

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Southampton striker Cyle Larin believes that his side are "becoming stronger" with every game they play.

Saints added to the success of Saturday's FA Cup win over Arsenal with a thumping victory over Wrexham on Tuesday, when they scored five goals to jump back into the play-off positions.

Larin was on the scoresheet for his fifth goal of the season at At Stok Cae Ras, picking up the ball on halfway before driving towards goal and finishing across the keeper with his right foot.

He arrived at Saints on deadline day in the January transfer window with an option to make the deal permanent in the summer.

"There's a lot of belief in the squad and trust in each other," he told BBC Radio Solent.

"I think you see it on the pitch where the guys are really connecting and I think it's just game-by-game we are getting better and becoming stronger.

"You can smile for a bit with the win, but we're going to have to go again this weekend and the next game is the most important game and the team knows that.

"It was a great game against Arsenal and we knew Wrexham was very important, probably more important than the last game but everyone knows we take it game-by-game."

Saints are next in action on Saturday when they host Derby County before playing Blackburn Rovers in midweek.

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Southampton boss Tonda Eckert has praised "outstanding" Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson before their Championship tie in Wales on Tuesday night (20:00 BST).

While Wrexham's Hollywood ownership and big spending often takes the limelight, the German believes the buck stops with Parkinson when it comes to the Welsh side's success.

"I think he's doing an outstanding job," Eckert told BBC Radio Solent.

"It does come down to the manager to put those pieces together and it's a very tough place to go to.

"It's so clear what they do, it's a very clear identity, a very clear style of playing and not an easy one to come up against."

The two sides are both pursuing a place in the play-offs, with the Saints aiming to leapfrog the Red Dragons into sixth spot.

Southampton will have momentum in their favour following a four-match winning run that includes victories over Championship leaders Coventry City and an FA Cup upset against Premier League leaders Arsenal.

But Eckert believes there are limits to what the side can draw from such big wins.

"The games have nothing to do with each other," Eckert added. "What you can take is the confidence to win games but that's it.

"I think the game and the way it unfolds has nothing to with Coventry because it's a completely different set-up."

Dan George
BBC Sport at St Mary's

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Southampton were superb tonight in a performance that had St Mary's absolutely bouncing at full-time.

This Saints team are more than doing justice to the 50th anniversary celebrations since they last won the FA Cup, and have now booked their place at Wembley for the semi-finals.

Tonda Eckert deserves plenty of praise for the job he has done with this group in what has to be the biggest night and achievement of his short coaching career so far.

They made Arsenal pay and were incredibly sharp in attack, the likes of Tom Fellows, Leo Scienza and Finn Azaz had brilliant games, causing the Arsenal defence all kinds of problems from early on.

The pace of their wide players seemed to catch the Arsenal defence out as they sprung forward, threatening on the counter-attack numerous times.

Even when the visitors managed to find an equaliser in the second half, they stayed calm and rallied again before finding a late winner.

When the full-time whistle blew the home fans descended into scenes of song and dance, embracing and jumping for joy to mark what will be remembered as a famous night for the club.