It turns out that Southampton needed more than eyes on Middlesbrough's training schedule to get the better of them on the pitch in the Championship play-offs.

BBC Sport reported that one of Southampton's performance analysts was allegedly caught recording training and taking pictures of Kim Hellberg's tactics on Thursday.

The Teesiders caught the analyst, though, and made him delete the footage that he captured before sending him back down to Hampshire, which caused the EFL to open an investigation into the incident.

Despite that controversy, it was Middlesbrough who looked by far the better team on the field in the 0-0 draw at the Riverside in the first leg of the semi-finals on Saturday.

Boro were unable to convert their chances, creating four 'big chances' and taking 15 more shots than the Saints, but their performance was exceptional.

How Southampton lost control against Middlesbrough

Tonda Eckert's side were unable to cope with the rotations in the Middlesbrough side, as Riley McGree and Aidan Morris caused constant problems with their third-man runs into the channels.

Southampton could not cope with the movements of the Boro players, particularly in the wide areas, but they escaped conceding any goals because of poor finishing from Tommy Conway, who missed three 'big chances' on his own.

On another day, Hellberg's men could have run away with the match because they had 76% possession and three 'big chances' to Southampton's zero at half-time, but their finishing let them down.

The Saints improved in the second half when Ross Stewart came on to lead the line, yet they still ended the match with one 'big chance' and zero shots on target.

Another reason why Southampton lost control against Boro was that their centre-forward, Cyle Larin, failed to provide an outball when they were under pressure, and he must be dropped for the second leg.

Why Tonda Eckert must drop Southampton striker Cyle Larin

The Canada international, who will join permanently from Mallorca for £3.4m if the Saints earn promotion to the Premier League, was the worst player on the pitch in the 0-0 draw between Southampton and Middlesbrough.

No outfield starter on the pitch for either team completed fewer passes (three), lost more duels (nine), or took fewer touches (19) than the Southampton marksman.

Only Boro goalkeeper Sol Brynn took fewer touches (15) than Larin in the match, which speaks to both the centre-forward's lack of involvement and how little the Saints threatened the Middlesbrough goalkeeper, who had zero saves to make.

The 31-year-old number nine played his part in Boro's complete dominance of the ball because he was unable to make the ball stick when Eckert's side needed to relieve the constant pressure that was being put on their defence.

Ten times the ball went up to Larin's feet, chest, or head to hold onto possession. Nine times the ball went straight back towards the Southampton backline because he lost a physical duel with one of Middlesbrough's players.

The Canadian forward has been a brilliant addition to the Saints squad, scoring eight times in the Championship since February, but his performance at the Riverside was dismal, to say the least.

Larin's return of eight goals from 6.41 xG in the regular Championship season shows that he does have value and could still play a part in the second leg, but he should come off the bench after the first leg performance.

Ross Stewart won five of his nine duels in the second half, allowing Saints to gain more territory and take more shots at the Boro goal, and should start at St. Mary's on Tuesday night.

The Scotland international offers more physicality in the centre-forward position, whilst he also scored eight goals in 11 starts during the regular season and can offer a big threat in front of goal.

Eckert, therefore, must drop Larin from the side to give the Boro centre-backs a better challenge in the form of Stewart for the second leg, because he will not want his team to be pinned in as badly as they were for the opening 60 minutes on Saturday.