Southampton’s whole attention is on the play-offs, where a quick return to the Premier League is the reward.
The focus of manager Russell Martin will be on coming up with a strategy to defeat West Brom over two legs in the semi-finals.
Southampton will play in the Wembley final on Sunday, May 26, if they defeat a team they have won the league double over once more this season.
Leeds United and Norwich City, who are ranked third and sixth respectively, will meet in the other semifinal.
Any club that makes it into the Premier League through the play-offs stands to gain enormous financial benefits; the championship game is frequently referred to as the most profitable in sports history.
For Southampton in the playoffs, there is much more at risk than just top tier football.
The club will almost certainly have to sell star player Kyle Walker-Peters if they fail and stay in the Championship, and their ambitions of permanently signing Flynn Downes and Taylor Harwood-Bellis on loan will also be dashed.
The accounting company Deloitte Sports Business Group made an effort to project the financial benefit of last season’s Championship play-off victory.
They estimated that the Wembley victor would see at least a £170 million boost in revenue over the course of the three seasons that followed.
Deloitte calculated that just one season in the Premier League would generate additional revenue of at least £90 million and thought that the figure might climb to almost £290 million if the team then managed to escape relegation after their first season in the top division.
Although missing out on promotion through the play-offs would be extremely disappointing and probably result in some departures, Southampton’s financial future isn’t believed to be entirely dependent on an immediate return to the top division in England.
This is due to the fact that Sport Republic, the team’s owners, managed the sales of several players after their relegation last summer.
Romeo Lavia, Tino Livramento, and James Ward-Prowse, among others, all fetched high fees as the team made almost £157 million and spent just under £19 million.
This was crucial as Southampton got ready for life in the Championship, and the prudent strategy has made sure the Saints can make ends meet even in the event of a promotion.