Southampton: Russell Martin reacts to Portsmouth FC's promotion | OneFootball

Southampton boss has revealed that he messaged Portsmouth boss John Mousinho to congratulate him, following his team's promotion on Tuesday.

Pompey would have been hoping to get the job done on Saturday away at promotion hopefuls Bolton Wanderers, and they initially took the lead through Abu Kamara.

But Aaron Collins levelled it up for the hosts - and that left them needing to get a result against Barnsley on Tuesday.

Going 2-1 down against the Tykes, the south-coast side's supporters would have been extremely disappointed to have lost that game considering Neill Collins' side aren't in the best form.

But Colby Bishop's penalty in the 83rd minute made it 2-2, before Conor Shaughnessy grabbed the winner to seal promotion, as well as the League One title.

No one can argue that Pompey didn't deserve to win the title, considering they were the most consistent team throughout the campaign and had spent much of the season at the top of the table.

They will ply their trade in the Championship next term - and work will need to be done in the transfer market to give themselves the best chance of remaining in the second tier for a few years before potentially pushing for a return to the Premier League.

Getting back to the top flight would be a remarkable achievement considering they previously fell from the top tier to League Two because of their financial issues.

With their story in mind, fans from many clubs are happy to see Mousinho's side enjoy success, but not all supporters are happy.

Southampton's fanbase won't be keen to see Pompey back in the second tier.

Although the Saints' supporters may be relishing potential fixtures between the two sides again, they will want to remain higher than their arch-rivals in the football pyramid.

Unfortunately for them, promotion isn't guaranteed for them, with a fierce battle ongoing for automatic promotion and the play-offs being a real lottery.

Their manager Martin has revealed that he congratulated Mousinho, but hinted that he isn't delighted about Pompey's promotion.

He told George Rees-Julian: "I'm pleased for John, but that doesn't mean I'm pleased that Portsmouth have been promoted."

The pair played for England colleges together.

Pompey coming up means the Saints may be able to play them regularly again.

And with the squad they have, Martin's side should be beating their arch-rivals.

If they do and do it on a regular basis, that will be a big boost for the Saints and their supporters.

But at the same time, Martin's men will want to be competing in a higher division as they look to retain their status as the "better" side of the two, and they may not welcome Pompey's promotion because of that.

Having been above Pompey in the football pyramid for so long, they will want that to remain the case and that could give Martin's side more fuel to secure a top-flight return.