Southampton are currently in Germany for a pre-season training camp, with owner Solak pictured with the squad, external as the club await the FA’s decision.

Eckert’s team have already played friendlies against Eastleigh and Eintracht Braunschweig as well as a behind-closed-doors friendly against SC Paderborn.

They will play Preussen Munster on Saturday in their final friendly before taking on Colchester the following weekend in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

One week later they start their Championship season away at Watford, and Eckert is hoping that last season’s success, specifically in the FA Cup, can help them to bring plenty of momentum and belief into the new campaign.

“We’ll be competing for automatics (top two), I think that’s clear and that’s the ambition,” Eckert added.

“There’s going to be some challenges on the way like every season, that so many games will bring.

“Obviously you have some big clubs now coming down but in the end it’s down to us and I think we’ve shown what we can do also against bigger teams, even if that’s a different competition.

“We’ve shown what we are capable of doing and we need to make sure we connect to that as quick as possible.”

LOS ANGELES — Shortly after the Los Angeles Dodgers polished off a 4-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night, Shohei Ohtani checked in with the club’s training staff to report further soreness in his troublesome left knee. And just like that, another wrinkle was added to what should be a frenetic MLB trade deadline weekend for the reigning back-to-back champions.

Ohtani sat out against the Mariners on Thursday to rest the knee, which has kept him from pitching since July 3. The injury presents a looming question as the Dodgers again hurtle toward October.

“I just talked to the trainer, and he said maybe tonight might be a good day for him to be down,” manager Dave Roberts said before Thursday’s game.

Ohtani wanted to play, the manager said, but the organization took the decision out of his hands.

“I appreciate the communication,” Roberts said. “I can’t read minds, the training staff can’t read minds, so just for him to communicate that allows for us to make a decision.”

This will be an ongoing conversation. Ohtani did not sound certain this week that his knee will be at 100 percent the rest of the way. That’s even after he had an MRI and received an injection of Orthovisc, an injectable gel the Dodgers have described as a “lubricant” for his knee, during the All-Star break. Although Roberts said Ohtani’s knee has shown “marked” improvement, it raises at least some red flags that his knee is again an issue so soon after the club’s off day Monday.

It is unlikely that the Dodgers will shut down Ohtani by placing him on the 10-day injured list to give his knee (and his right biceps) a chance to calm down, according to a source close to the situation who requested anonymity given the uncertainty of the plans.

“Nothing should be off the table, and nothing is set in stone,” Roberts said. “So I think it’s more of how he feels.”

The Dodgers have downplayed Ohtani’s health as a factor in their deadline plans. Maybe it’s just posturing, but odds are they’d be just as interested in acquiring Tarik Skubal even with Ohtani at full strength as they would be with him shut down from pitching.

But Ohtani’s health looms large in the Dodgers’ odds of a third consecutive title, something just four teams have done in baseball history.

“He’s not 100 percent,” Roberts said of Ohtani. “Very few players are 100 percent. Then what is it? Is it 70 percent, is it 80 percent, is it 90 percent? For me, there’s still that conversation where it’s like he understands … the most important part of the season is to come, and he understands his value with our team.”

Ohtani acknowledged this week that there might come a point when he plays – and pitches – through discomfort. This injury could be something that doesn’t get right until the offseason.

“It’s really something that I have to just deal with over the course of the season,” Ohtani said Tuesday through interpreter Will Ireton.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Wednesday that part of wanting to shut Ohtani down on the mound is ensuring the knee issue doesn’t cause mechanical changes that lead to arm trouble.

The Dodgers continue to express confidence that Ohtani will return to the mound this season. Roberts said he was “very confident” Ohtani will be back in the lineup today against the Boston Red Sox.

Time will tell how well the knee holds up. That might matter more than anything the Dodgers do before Monday’s 3 p.m. PT deadline.

As the Skubal trade rumors continue to swirl, expect the Dodgers to be right in the thick of it — even if Friedman downplayed any needs on his roster.

But if a star is available, the Dodgers are calling. Friedman said as much (without naming names) Wednesday.

“I think our mindset is always, and we’ve talked about this, there just aren’t that many star-level players in the game,” Friedman said. “Any time one is available, we’re always going to participate in those conversations.”

The odds the Tigers (51-58, 4 1/2 games out of a playoff spot) will trade Skubal seem to rise by the day. That the Dodgers are the industry favorites to land the back-to-back American League Cy Young winner comes as no surprise. They can offer the best prospect package, their farm system is built to absorb significant hits, and money is of no concern. Friedman may not feel like his club needs Skubal, but if the longtime head executive wants him, he’s in the best position to land him.

The Dodgers have the controllable starting pitching the Tigers would covet in a Skubal trade. Emmet Sheehan, who is not eligible for arbitration until next season, is a possible fit. Los Angeles is also looking to clear out a logjam of outfielders in their minor-league system. The club was originally looking to rebalance its farm system by trading from its outfield surplus for upper-level middle-infield or catching depth. That is still an avenue the club will explore, but including an outfield prospect in a potential Skubal deal is also on the table.

Rival clubs will inquire about top-ranked prospects Josue De Paula and Eduardo Quintero, but the Dodgers would consider those nonstarters in negotiations. One name Los Angeles would be open to moving, according to multiple team sources, is 21-year-old Zyhir Hope, who is hitting .289 with 21 homers and an .879 OPS in Double A. Mike Sirota, a 23-year-old also in Double A, could also be a trade candidate, though less so than Hope.

The Dodgers remain active in the trade markets as teams express interest in outfielder Alex Call and left-hander Eric Lauer.

The Texas Rangers, who acquired high-leverage right-handed reliever Chase Silseth from the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, see Call as a fit, per a league source. The Philadelphia Phillies have also checked in and had heavy interest in Call last deadline before the Dodgers landed him.

The market for Lauer is less clear, though the Dodgers believe there will be more clarity to the starting pitching market as the deadline approaches. Lauer notched six innings of one-hit ball in Wednesday’s win before addressing the trade speculation with reporters.

“Oh, my wife hates it,” Lauer said. “No, I mean, it’s something that I was aware of coming over here that it might be like a rental thing. There’s some big guys that have injuries that there was just a need. So, see a need, fill a need kind of thing. But I mean, I love it here. I think I’m thriving here, as far as I can tell. And I would love to be part of this team.”

The Dodgers could be open to moving other pieces as they rearrange some of their 40-man roster, a league source said. They have previously explored trades for 28-year-old Ryan Ward, who is in Triple A and could help clubs in need of big-league lineup reinforcements in left field or first base or at designated hitter.

Friedman maximized a seller’s market in previous deadlines, trading Noah Syndergaard (2023), James Paxton (2024) and Dustin May (2025) off the big-league roster in recent trading periods.

The Athletic reported that the Dodgers were among the clubs who sent scouts to see New York Mets right-hander Clay Holmes during his latest rehab appearance in Dunedin, Fla.

Holmes is not Skubal but presents an intriguing alternative should the Dodgers want to add another arm given the fluid nature of their pitching staff. The rotation is getting healthier, with Blake Snell an option as soon as next week after he threw four innings with Class-A Ontario on Wednesday. Tyler Glasnow could start a rehab assignment soon and said Wednesday he feels fully past the nagging back spasms that have kept him out since May.

But if the Dodgers lose another arm, or if Ohtani’s knee remains a problem, or if All-Star Justin Wrobleski takes a step back as he approaches a career-high workload, Holmes could step into the rotation, where he has thrived in New York.

Holmes had a 2.39 ERA in nine starts for the Mets this season before sustaining a fibula fracture. He could be classified as a rental, as he has a $12 million player option for 2027 he is expected to decline.

But if the Dodgers have their rotation at full strength in October, Holmes could slot into a relief role — a role in which he excelled as an All-Star closer for the New York Yankees from 2021 to 2024.

The Dodgers tend to think of postseason pitching staffs as the best collection of 14 arms (including Ohtani), rather than focusing on regular-season roles. Holmes would certainly clear that threshold. The organization was largely doing due diligence scouting Holmes, and there are more aggressive suitors out there for him, but the fit is worth pointing out.

SAN DIEGO — The moment called for Robbie Ray to empty the tank.

It’s one thing to recognize when you’re facing your last hitter of the night. It’s another to recognize when you’re almost certainly facing your last hitter in a San Francisco Giants uniform. For Ray, there was no sense in leaving anything sloshing around in the tank in the sixth inning Thursday night, especially when you’re about to trade in the whole car for something souped up and shinier.

With the trade deadline approaching Monday and Ray among the impending free agents almost certain to be dealt to a contender, the Giants accepted some degree of risk when they let the left-hander take the mound against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Thursday night. In case you haven’t noticed, tempting fate hasn’t worked out so well for the Giants this season.

But Ray provided a fitting coda to his two-plus seasons as a Giant, plus a solid audition that might have boosted the club’s asking price. He worked up a sweat, mixed five pitch shapes and held the Padres to a run on four hits in six innings. Catcher Daniel Susac followed up Wednesday’s two-home-run game by smacking a two-run shot, and the Giants bullpen didn’t break down while protecting a 4-1 victory.

Ray soaked up the pitch clock in the sixth inning, giving himself every second of recovery time as he grunted through his final pitches. He threw his hardest fastballs of the night — a 95 mph four-seam fastball and then a 95 mph two-seamer — while rallying from a 3-0 count to strike out Manny Machado. After he got Ty France to chase a changeup at the shoe tops, Ray punched his glove, wiped his brow, gave Susac a fist tap and accepted waves of congratulations in the dugout.

This is hug watch season. Ray’s teammates didn’t wait for trade news to show him their appreciation. Logan Webb gave him a particularly long and heartfelt embrace.

“It’s been a tough year as a team,” Ray said. “We’re not where we want to be. But I feel like I’ve put myself in a good position, gone out every day and tried to give my team a chance to win.”

Ray, 34, came to the Giants in a January 2024 trade that was among the most inspired of Farhan Zaidi’s tenure as president of baseball operations. The 2021 AL Cy Young Award winner was in the middle of an arduous rehab process, recovering from surgeries to reconstruct the flexor tendon and the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow. His employer, the Seattle Mariners, was dealing with financial uncertainty following the disintegration of their regional sports network. The Mariners essentially wrote down the rest of Ray’s five-year, $115 million contract while taking on the dead money owed to declining outfielder Mitch Haniger and injured right-hander Anthony DeSclafani.

“Super thankful (I was) given the opportunity mid-rehab to come over here and continue the rehab process here,” Ray said. “Training staff has been amazing, and just (getting) the opportunity to pitch … get back on the field and do what I love to do. They’ve given me a chance to come back from that injury and just thankful for that.”

His results were predictably uneven when he returned in 2024, and in hindsight, it was unfair to expect him to serve as the second-half cavalry for a team that didn’t pitch well enough down the stretch to make the playoffs. But the payoff came last year when Ray was 9-3 with a 2.65 ERA in his first 20 starts and joined Webb on the National League All-Star team.

Ray expanded the fastball-slider repertoire that helped him win a Cy Young with the Toronto Blue Jays, committing to a changeup that helped him dominate during stretches last season. He reinvented himself some more this season, turning to a sinking, two-seam fastball and dusting off a knuckle curve.

He isn’t throwing quite as hard as before. He isn’t pitching as deeply into games, completing more than seven innings just twice in 21 starts this year. His walk rate is up and his strikeout rate is down. But he’s taught a master class in situational pitching while preventing big innings and giving a flawed team a chance to win.

Throw out his one abysmal start (4 1/3 innings, nine earned runs) May 18 at Arizona and Ray has a 2.51 ERA this season. He is 6-0 with a 1.65 ERA over his last 10 assignments.

“I feel like I’ve been locked in lately,” Ray said. “My last two in particular, I felt like I was on cruise control. Didn’t really feel pressured all that much. Just felt like I was in flow state the whole time, felt comfortable with all my pitches in any situation. As a starting pitcher, that’s where you want to be to be able to turn over a lineup three times, and I feel like that’s kind of where I’ve been.”

Ray might not fit atop a playoff rotation for any team that acquires him. But there are sure to be contenders that will view him as a solid upgrade or depth piece, and if the big names like Tarik Skubal get moved with days or hours to spare, the Giants figure to have a little more juice to squeeze.

Replacing Ray in the Giants rotation is a short-term concern, but it’s a question the club will have to address. Perhaps they’ll get back a young, controllable starter for Ray, Luis Arraez or Tyler Mahle. This much is reasonable to believe: Considering the players who are about to walk out the door, it won’t be easy for the Giants to pile up moral victories and play cleaner baseball the rest of the way.

The Giants haven’t won four consecutive games all season, but they’ve won in 10 of Ray’s last 12 starts. The Catholic Church has beatified saints for lesser miracles.

Ray will be owed a little less than $8 million the rest of this season, which should not impede a trade. The Giants have the wherewithal to pay down some of that money to widen the field and involve contenders with greater financial restraints. Even when dealing with teams that can afford to pay the full freight, the Giants must be willing to kick in money if it means they can extract more talent.

After all, it’s not as if the franchise is operating with an empty tank.