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Sports Mole's Championship Team of the Week

Sports Mole picks out the best XI from matchday 21 in the Championship as well as highlighting the biggest numpty and best goal.

The Championship's top four clubs are separated by just a point after matchday 21 over the weekend.

Bournemouth are the new league leaders and only ahead of Middlesbrough because they have scored 44 goals, more than anyone else in the Football League.

The Cherries beat Cardiff City 5-3 at home while Boro downed the previous league leaders Derby County.

Ipswich Town, like Derby, dropped a couple of places from second to fourth as they managed a goalless draw at Bolton Wanderers.

Brentford are a point further back after their sixth win in seven games - a 3-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers - while bottom-club Blackpool continued their improved form with a 2-2 draw at Charlton Athletic.

Here, Sports Mole chooses its best XI from the weekend, in a traditional 4-4-2 formation, as well as highlighting the biggest numpty and best goal.

Andy Lonergan (Bolton Wanderers)
The Trotters lost their 100% home record under Neil Lennon, but they were fortunate to escape with a point against Ipswich. Lonergan made several saves, including two top-draw stops to keep out Jay Tabb.

Richard Stearman (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Wolves ended a run of five straight defeats with a 1-0 victory at Sheffield Wednesday and Stearman made more blocks than anyone else in the Championship this weekend.
Craig Morgan (Rotherham United)
Another goalless draw for the Millers as they held Nottingham Forest at the New York Stadium. They've failed to score in six of the last seven games, but Morgan was a rock at the back with numerous clearances.
Dan Shittu (Millwall)
A towering presence at the back on Friday night as Millwall kept a clean sheet and picked up just their second win in 16 games with victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.
Konstantinos Stafylidis (Fulham)
The young left-back made multiple interceptions at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon as Fulham edged out Leeds United.

Ikechi Anya (Watford)
Set up both of Troy Deeney's goals as the Hornets piled more misery on lowly Wigan Athletic.
Harry Arter (Bournemouth)
A goal and assist for the Cherries midfielder, who keeps his place in our best XI.
Bradley Johnson (Norwich City)
Netted two of Norwich's five as they dismantled Huddersfield Town in front of a bumper crowd at Carrow Road and closed in on the playoffs.
Demarai Gray (Birmingham City)
The star performer of the weekend with a 34-minute hat-trick in the first half as Birmingham blew away Reading 6-1. Three quality finishes from the 18-year-old even though Reading were catastrophic at the back.

Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough)
The Chelsea loanee has now scored in three straight games after putting Boro ahead in their top-of-the-table clash against Derby. He also won the penalty that sealed the win.
Steven Davies (Blackpool)
Rock-bottom Blackpool are now four games unbeaten and Davies, like Bamford, found the net for the third game in a row to earn the Tangerines a point at Charlton Athletic.

Numpty of the Week

The Reading defence: Reading lost 6-1 at St Andrew's, but you wouldn't believe that looking at the stats - the Royals had 65% possession and 16 shots to Birmingham's 11. It was their defence that let them down and although Birmingham took their chances well, most of the goals were very avoidable.

Goal of the Week

Yann Kermorgant (Bournemouth) vs. Cardiff City: There were tons of goals this weekend and eight of them came at the Goldsands Stadium, with Kermorgant's pinpoint free kick the pick of the bunch.

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Adam Clayton of Middlesbrough celebrates after Jelle Vossen scores to make it 4-0 during the Sky Bet Championship match between Millwall and Middlesbrough at The Den on December 6, 2014
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Championship Team of the Week
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CPortsmouth452713576413594
2Derby CountyDerby452781076373989
3Bolton WanderersBolton452511983483586
4Peterborough UnitedPeterborough452581286582883
5Barnsley4521121281631875
6Lincoln CityLincoln4520141165382774
7Oxford UnitedOxford Utd4521111377552274
8Blackpool4521101463451873
9Stevenage4518141355451068
10Wycombe WanderersWycombe451614155955462
11Leyton Orient451711175054-462
12Exeter CityExeter451710184559-1461
13Wigan AthleticWigan451910166156559
14Northampton TownNorthampton45178205665-959
15Bristol Rovers45169205266-1457
16Charlton AthleticCharlton451120146464053
17Reading451511196568-350
18Shrewsbury TownShrewsbury45139233464-3048
19Cambridge UnitedCambridge451211223961-2247
20Burton Albion451210233964-2546
21Cheltenham TownCheltenham45128254063-2344
RFleetwood TownFleetwood45913234672-2640
RPort Vale451010254174-3340
RCarlisle UnitedCarlisle4579294179-3830


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