Southampton‘s sporting director has indicated the club is prepared for a potential Football Association ban for manager Tonda Eckert after the ‘Spygate’ scandal, while still hoping for a positive resolution.

The Saints have already faced severe penalties, including expulsion from the Championship play-off final and a four-point deduction for the upcoming season.

These sanctions followed the club’s admission of three EFL regulation breaches for illicitly monitoring semi-final opponents Middlesbrough and two other teams.

Eckert accepted full responsibility for the affair, a position publicly backed by Southampton owner Dragan Solak.

The German manager now faces three FA charges under Rule E3.1 for “misconduct”.

As the new season approaches, the outcome remains unknown, with a ban a distinct possibility, though Spors expressed the club’s readiness to handle any disciplinary action.

Saints’ group technical director Johannes Spors said: “There are so many uncertainties of how this could look like.

“At the moment I’m honestly very positive, looking into the next weeks.

“There was a little bit of discussion as Tonda watched the game from above (in the stands for Saturday’s friendly against Preussen-Munster). That was a bit of a training.

“We think into different scenarios but nothing too concrete at the moment. We really focus on the here and now, and if there is something we have to deal with then we will deal with it.

“It’s not that I don’t want to be concrete on answering it, it’s just that we can’t really.

“In my office with the people around me, we do speak about different scenarios to be prepared, and I still hope for a positive outcome.”

Saints chief executive Phil Parsons says the timeline for the FA hearing is unclear ahead of Saturday’s Carabao Cup tie at Colchester and the following weekend’s Championship opener away to Watford.

“We don’t know – it might be a September hearing,” he said. “The FA have listened to Tonda well, they’ve listened to everybody involved.

“I think it’s been OK process so far, but I’ve thought that before as well and things change.”

Parsons and Spors spoke alongside Eckert at Southampton’s annual BBC Radio Solent Fans’ Forum, where ‘Spygate’ naturally dominated the agenda.

The head coach says he could not have blamed the club for sacking him at the end of last season but insisted the image painted about his set-up is “very far away from the truth”.

Eckert expressed gratitude for the backing of Saints’ ownership and fanbase, although one supporter felt last season meant nothing given how it ended.

“I understand it feels like there’s a page being ripped out of out of a book,” the 33-year-old coach said. “But I just hope we find that belief that the last chapter just takes 10 months longer.

“I do believe every club lives off memories. As much as we all want them all to be positive, I think it’s one of the toughest that the football club has had, especially in recent years.

“But when you take the book as a metaphor, for me the last page is not written yet, and for me there is much more to come.

“I just hope we’ll be sitting here in 12 months and talking about the Premier League.

“I can only tell you I’ll do everything to make you proud. I think we’ve given you some proud moments in the last season, and I will do everything to continue that.”