West Brom center back Prior to the second leg of the play-off semifinal matchup against Southampton, Conor Townsend has been speaking with the media.
In their tight first encounter at The Hawthorns on Sunday, the two teams drew 0-0, with neither team wanting to have to chase the match in the second leg.
On Friday night, the match will take place at St. Mary’s, and a lot of people are picking Southampton to win because they have home advantage.
Townsend has disclosed what his team is using as incentive ahead of the play-off final showdown, so he does not necessarily think this is a bad thing.
Conor Townsend asserts that West Brom enjoys being the underdog.
Townsend thinks Carlos Corberan’s team will be happy to go to the south coast even if many people are betting on them to lose.
Following the 0-0 draw in West Brom’s home match, Townsend was questioned if Southampton was the favorite. He replied, “That is fine, we are happy being the underdogs.”
“It makes no difference to us if the media wants to portray those two (Leeds and Southampton) as unbeatable. We most likely take use of it in the changing room.
Southampton beat the Baggies at home in November, with Will Smallbone and Adam Armstrong scoring either side of a Kyle Bartley goal to secure a 2-1 win for the Saints.
They also won the reverse fixture in the regular leage season, triumphing 2-0 at West Brom in February, meaning they have conceded just once to their semi-final opponents in three meetings this campaign.
Southampton taking nothing for granted ahead of second leg
Russell Martin won’t take Southampton for granted, even though Townsend may maintain that Southampton is the favorites in an effort to maintain the underdog image that his team is obviously exploiting to get an advantage.
On Friday night, St Mary’s will be raucous, but West Brom will be ready to frustrate the Saints and calm the home crowd.
As the home team, Southampton will need to take the initiative, which will work in their favor as their opponents will be motivated to play solid defense and create opportunities for quick goals.
Martin is aware of this and will need to make sure his team doesn’t lose momentum in transition while attempting to outplay their rivals.
The match on Friday will essentially be a one-shot shootout for a spot in the Wembley final on May 26 because of the tie that is so perfectly balanced.
