'I've asked for forgiveness' - Eckert and Southampton braced for Spygate verdict

More than four months since the Spygate scandal erupted, Southampton manager Tonda Eckert's wait to discover his fate for authorising an espionage campaign is almost over.

In the coming days, a decisive Football Association hearing will take place, after the German coach was charged with misconduct in July.

Spying on three clubs has already cost Southampton the chance of promotion to the Premier League (worth £200m), after they were expelled from the Championship play-off final. An EFL panel also docked the club four points for this season.

As the club prepared for the latest twist in the saga, BBC Sport spoke exclusively to both Eckert and Southampton chief executive Phil Parsons, who - in his first interview on the case - insists any further punishment would be "really tough to take".

But how are the club and their coach dealing with the prospect of more turmoil? What is at stake? And why have Southampton given a permanent role to the intern who was caught spying on Middlesbrough in May?

"I would lie if I say that the summer has just been easy. Of course, if you care deeply about your profession, about the football club, there's nothing that prepares you for that. There just isn't."

Eckert speaks slowly and with an intense gaze when asked to reflect on being at the centre of one of the biggest controversies in English football history.

The 33-year-old apologised in June after an EFL independent disciplinary commission found he had orchestrated a "contrived and determined plan" to spy on Oxford United, Ipswich Town, then Middlesbrough before the play-off semi-final.