Southampton will be thankful for Gary O'Neil's latest Wolves, Che Adams statement - View | OneFootball

Southampton are facing one final huge game in their season on Sunday afternoon.

That of course, comes in the form of a trip to Wembley, for the Championship play-off final.

Russell Martin's side are set to face Leeds United in the showpiece event, with the winner in line to secure an immediate promotion to the Premier League, after a single season in the second-tier.

The loser though, will of course be set to face at least one more season in the Championship, and for whichever side that is, they will see questions raised about the futures of a number of individuals.

In Southampton's case though, one player who does already look as though he will be on his way out of St Mary's in the summer is Che Adams.

Wolves closing in on striker signing

As things stand, Adams will be out of contract at Southampton at the end of this season, and it appears he is unlikely to be signing a new contract with the club.

Instead, with a free transfer on the cards, it looks as though the striker's next destination may have already been decided.

It has been widely reported recently that Premier League side Wolves are confident of signing the Scotland international this summer, once his deal at St Mary's does indeed come to an end.

However, in the lead-up to the Championship play-off final, it could be argued that Wolves manager Gary O'Neil has just done Southampton a favour, with his latest comments on the future of Adams.

Gary O'Neil aware of a huge week for Southampton

As is always the case at this time of the calendar year, managers are going to be asked about the potential signings their clubs are being linked with.

That has therefore been the case for O'Neil, who has had to respond recently to questions about Wolves' potential move for Adams.

However, the 41-year-old gave little away when issuing his answer to those enquiries. Instead, the Wolves boss has pointed out that for now, Adams is still under contract at Southampton, and that the Saints still have a "massive game" coming up with this weekend's play-off final.

You feel that the way in which O'Neil has handled that question, will surely have gone down well at St Mary's.

With the Wolves manager not giving anything away with those comments, he has added nothing further to the story that anyone at Southampton will now have to deal with themselves.

That includes Adams, who will not have to go into the game - if he is fit after missing the semi-final with West Brom through injury - thinking about having a point to prove to either Southampton or Wolves fans with what he does on the pitch.

Instead he, like the rest of the club, will be able to put their full focus into simply performing the way they would if this was any other game, without any unwelcome distractions that could add extra pressure that might lead to any sort of costly mistake.

Given how important this game is, and what is at stake for winning it, the fact that they can do that without any additional scrutiny or enhanced speculation hanging over the head of a potentially key player in Adams, will be a big relief for the club.

With that in mind, the way that O'Neil has respected their position in a massive week for the club with how he has spoken about Adams here, is something Southampton will surely appreciate.