Manning motivated to secure home second leg
Ryan Manning is determined to help Southampton finish the season strongly and secure a home second leg in the Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-finals.
Saints’ midweek draw with Ipswich ended their automatic promotion hopes, confirming their place in the play-offs.
As things stand, Saints would face Middlesbrough with the first leg at St Mary’s – unless Saints win at Preston on the final day and Boro fail to secure victory at Wrexham, who need three points themselves to finish in the top six.
That combination of results, or a Saints win and a Millwall defeat at home to already-relegated Oxford, would give Manning and co. home advantage in the second leg of the semi-final.
The Irishman, a Championship veteran now in his ninth season at the level, lost the play-off final with Swansea in 2021 before tasting victory at Wembley with Saints in 2024, and sees the value in playing a home second leg.
“The two play-offs I’ve been involved in I’ve had both second legs at home and it does make a difference,” he said.
“I think St Mary’s is rocking at the minute, the fans are so behind us. The club and everyone is so aligned, it’s such a good place to play football.
“We had a good home fixture in the play-offs last time [against West Brom], so I think everyone is going to be excited for that again.
“First or second leg it doesn’t really matter – not many teams are going to want to come here.”
Saints were three minutes away from leapfrogging Boro into fourth place and staying in the race for a top-two finish until the final day, only for Jack Clarke to score a late equaliser for Ipswich in a breathless encounter at St Mary’s on Tuesday night.
Manning felt it was another positive sign of Saints’ mental toughness to overcome the loss of their 20-match unbeaten run, and the emotional strain of a painful late defeat to Manchester City in Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup semi-final, where again Saints led late on.
“We showed such good resilience after the weekend where the unbeaten run [ended]. I know it was City in the cup, but that 20 games came to an end, so it was good character from us to come back and back that up with a good performance,” he added.
“I know it’s disappointing with the result, but to come out and put in a shift against one of the best teams in the league I think shows we’re in a good place as a group, as a squad and with the fans. I think anyone coming here is going to be in for a tough night.”
Saints’ play-off fixtures will be confirmed following the final day of the Sky Bet Championship season on Saturday, with ticket information to follow as soon as possible. Keep an eye on southamptonfc.com and the Saints App for details.
