Over two highly competitive games last season neither Southampton nor Portsmouth could claim the derby day bragging rights they so desperately craved. The first match at St Mary's ended as an anti-climatic scoreless draw before things took flight at Fratton Park later in the season. Leo Scienza found the net and ran the entire length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the Saints fans prior to Ebou Adams heading a late equaliser home.
He also ran the length of the field to salute the supporters in the Fratton End. Southampton then ended their season with Spygate dominating proceedings after Pompey had secured their status as a Championship side. With the two bitter rivals set to reignite their rivalry on Sunday ( ), will one finally triumph in the south coast derby?
The lead-up to this south coast derby has been unlike any other. While most spectators usually long for the day of the game, everyone connected with Southampton has been anxiously waiting for a verdict on the future of their head coach. Finally on Wednesday they were put out of their misery when the FA announced that Tonda Eckert had been handed a suspended six-week ban and fined £28,000 for his role in the Spygate scandal.
Crucially, this meant he could be in the dugout for Sunday's game at St Mary's and beyond. Just minutes after the announcement, Saints posted a video, external on their social media channels of Eckert cheering with supporters. "I think this news will be a little shot in the arm for them before the derby," said former Saints striker James Beattie.
"As a player that's one less thing to worry about and it frees you up to focus on the game. The lads are human at the end of the day and it would have been playing on their minds a little bit. "Now it's been sorted they can look forward.
The timing of the decision couldn't be better and hopefully they can go on and put in a really good performance at St Mary's." Despite the lacklustre nature of the game, last season's derby still had an incredibly intense and hostile atmosphere. With the Portsmouth fans undoubtedly having plenty of new verbal ammunition to fire at their rivals, Southampton supporters will be able to reply safe in the knowledge their manager will not be going anywhere soon. 'It's changed my life' - Eckert on Spygate scandal One aspect that underpins the intensity and ferocity of this derby is how few times the teams have played each other, meaning each game feels like a genuine occasion. Since 1996 they have met just 12 times across all competitions, with eight being a Premier League or Championship fixture.
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