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Sports Mole's Championship Team of the Week

Sports Mole picks out the top performers from matchday 37's action in the Championship, as well as highlighting the biggest numpty and best goal.

Four has become three at the top of the Championship after Saturday's full fixture list in the second tier.

Bournemouth, Watford and Middlesbrough are locked on 69 points with nine games remaining after all scoring four goals in healthy wins.

Derby County, meanwhile, are four league games without a win for the first time this season and two points behind the leading trio following a 1-1 draw with fellow promotion hopefuls Norwich City.

Further back, it looks like it will be a three-horse race to grab the final playoff spot as just three points separate Brentford, Ipswich Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers after all three failed to win on Saturday.

At the bottom, Blackpool and Millwall have both lost five games in a row and look down and out as they sit 18 and nine points from safety respectively.

Wigan Athletic gave their chances of escaping the drop a massive boost by overcoming the side just above them in the table, Rotherham United, who are now six clear of the Latics.

Here, Sports Mole chooses its best XI from the matchday 37's action, in a traditional 4-4-2 formation, as well as highlighting the biggest numpty and best goal.

Ali Al-Habsi (Wigan Athletic)
Made a string of fine saves to keep Rotherham at bay as Wigan closed to within two wins of safety.

Bruno (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Scored the Seagulls' only goal as they held playoff-chasing Wolves to a 1-1 draw at The Amex, edging seven points clear of the bottom three.
Harry Maguire (Wigan Athletic)
Another impressive performance in the Wigan backline came from Maguire, who made countless clearances to preserve three points.
Bruno Ecuele Manga (Cardiff City)
Cardiff had two players sent off against Brentford but still managed to leave with the points. Manga was a rock at the back and made one crucial goalline clearance.
Tim Ream (Bolton Wanderers)
Bolton eased any relegation worries they might have had with a 2-0 win over lowly Millwall. Adam Le Fondre scored both of the Trotters' goals and Ream set one of them up.

Jermaine Pennant (Wigan Athletic)
The former Liverpool man had only registered one goal in 73 appearances in English football before netting a pair of curling free kicks in the Latics' vital win at Rotherham United.
Fernando Forestieri (Watford)
The Italian is yet to start a league game for the Hornets in 2015, but he did his chances of getting into the team the world of good after coming off the bench just seven minutes into Saturday's game against Reading. Forestieri scored one and set up the other two of Watford's remaining three goals as they cruised past a weakened Reading side who had eyes on tonight's FA Cup replay with Bradford City.
Jacob Butterfield (Huddersfield Town)
An all-action performance from Butterfield in the Terriers' 1-1 draw with Birmingham City - he was a threat going forward and strong in the tackle.
Albert Adomah (Middlesbrough)
Might not be finding the net as much as last season, but Adomah scored his fifth goal of the season in Boro's 4-1 victory over Ipswich on Saturday lunchtime. The Teesside club have won every game in which the Ghanaian has scored this term.

Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn Rovers)
Despite all the talk of a move away, Rhodes is clearly fully focused on helping Blackburn and scored two of their three goals in the 3-1 win at Charlton Athletic.
Brett Pitman (Bournemouth)
Following 11 games without a goal, the Cherries striker has scored five times in his last two outings, netting a hat-trick in the 4-0 win over rock-bottom Blackpool. His second marked a century of goals for the South Coast club.

Numpty of the Week

John Ruddy and David Button: It was a poor weekend for many of the Championship's goalkeepers, but two stood out for their errors. Norwich's Ruddy might have been under plenty of pressure from a corner, but he tried to catch the ball one-handed and could only push it over the line for the first own goal by a keeper in the league this season. Brentford's Button also suffered from butter-fingers when he lost control to allow Cardiff an easy equaliser at Griffin Park.

Goal of the Week

Patrick Bamford (Middlesbrough) vs. Ipswich Town: The 4-1 scoreline at the Riverside was harsh on Ipswich, but they could do very little against Bamford's quality in front of goal. His second was a superb individual effort as he spun his marker before running clear and finishing low into the net.

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Russell Martin of Norwich City takes a throw during the Barclays Premier League match between Norwich City and Sunderland at Carrow Road on March 22, 2014
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Championship Team of the Week
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Portsmouth392411463323183
2Derby CountyDerby402461069353478
3Bolton WanderersBolton39228971432874
4Peterborough UnitedPeterborough38218974462871
5Barnsley382011770482271
6Oxford UnitedOxford Utd391891262521063
7Stevenage3917111151401162
8Lincoln CityLincoln3916131056332361
9Blackpool391791357421560
10Leyton Orient391610134444058
11Northampton TownNorthampton40158175160-953
12Wigan AthleticWigan39177155348550
13Wycombe WanderersWycombe381311145049150
14Bristol Rovers38148164857-950
15Exeter CityExeter39138183352-1947
16Charlton AthleticCharlton391015145758-145
17Shrewsbury TownShrewsbury39135212955-2644
18Reading39139175557-242
19Burton Albion39109203151-2039
20Cambridge UnitedCambridge38109193255-2339
21Port Vale3899203661-2536
22Cheltenham TownCheltenham3798203050-2035
23Fleetwood TownFleetwood39713194161-2034
24Carlisle UnitedCarlisle3959253569-3424


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