Southampton vow to help Football Association

Southampton have pledged to assist the Football Association and Premier League after releasing a statement saying assistant manager Eric Black was to be named in the Daily Telegraph’s ongoing investigations into football.

Saints pre-empted the newspapers’ latest round of articles under the strapline ‘Football For Sale’ by saying they had requested details from the Telegraph — a request they said had been turned down.

The club’s statement read: “Southampton Football Club has today been made aware by The Daily Telegraph that, as part of their ongoing investigation, the club’s assistant first team manager Eric Black will feature as part of an article in tomorrow’s paper.

“We have today contacted the FA and the Premier League, and intend to work closely with both bodies on this matter when the facts become clear.

On the pitch, Southampton secured a valuable point in their bid to progress to the Europa League’s knockout stages with a 0-0 draw against Hapoel Be’er Sheva.

Europa League - Group A:

Fenerbahce 1 Feyenoord 0, Manchester United 1 Zorya 0.

Group B:

FC Astana 0 Young Boys 0, Olympiacos 0 APOEL Nicosia 1.

Group C:

FK Qabala 2 Mainz 3, Saint-Etienne 1 Anderlecht 1.

Group D:

Dundalk 1 Maccabi Tel Aviv 0, Zenit St Petersburg 5 AZ Alkmaar 0.

Group E:

Austria Wien 0 Viktoria Plzen 0, Roma 4 Astra Giurgiu 0.

Group F:

Athletic Bilbao 1 Rapid Wien 0, Genk 3 Sassuolo 1.

Group G:

Ajax 1 Standard Liege 0, Celta Vigo 2 Panathinaikos 0.

Group H:

Gent 2 Konyaspor 0, Shakhtar Donetsk 2 Braga 0.

Group I:

FC Krasnodar 5 Nice 2, Schalke 3 Salzburg 1.

Group J:

Fiorentina 5 Qarabag FK 1, Slovan Liberec 1 PAOK Thessaloniki FC 2.

Group K:

Hapoel Beer Sheva 0 Southampton 0, Sparta Prague 3 Inter 1.

Group L:

Zurich 2 Osmanlispor FK 1, Steaua Bucuresti 1 Villarreal 1.

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