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Sports Mole's Championship Team of the Week

Sports Mole highlights those who stood out, and those that didn't, during the Championship's midweek matchday 30.

Middlesbrough climbed up two places to the top of the Championship as Bournemouth and Derby County played out a 2-2 draw in matchday 30's top-of-the-table clash on Tuesday.

Boro knew that victory over lowly Blackpool, which they snatched late on at Bloomfield Road, would guarantee them a place in the top two, but with the Cherries and the Rams sharing a point, Aitor Karanka's side are a point clear at the top.

Brentford dropped from fourth to sixth on a day to forget as the future of manager Mark Warburton was cast into serious doubt before they suffered a last-gasp defeat to fellow promotion hopefuls Watford.

The Hornets are up to fifth, one point behind Ipswich Town, who got back to winning ways with a 2-1 triumph over Sheffield Wednesday.

Blackpool are now 10 points from safety, with Wigan Athletic only two points better off after they were beaten 3-0 by Dougie Freedman's resurgent Nottingham Forest in Wednesday's only game.

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

Tomasz Kuszczak (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
With number one Carl Ikeme out injured, Kuszczak has been given a chance to impress for Wolves and he did that by letting in just one of Huddersfield Town's 31 shots as Wolves' assured finishing saw them come out on top 4-1.

Luke Chambers (Ipswich Town)
Ipswich picked up their first league win in four games to lift the mood at Portman Road, and club captain Chambers netted the winner with a bullet header.
Alan Dunne (Millwall)
Arguably the biggest upset of matchday 30 took place at St Andrew's as relegation-threatened Millwall won away at Birmingham City for the first time since 1968. Dunne netted the only goal.
Jonathan Woodgate (Middlesbrough)
Veteran defender Woodgate scored Boro's first with a powerful header as the Teesside club soared to the top of the pile with their fifth league win in a row.
Saidy Janko (Bolton Wanderers)
A dream debut for Manchester United teenager Janko, who is on loan until the end of the season. His pace was a constant threat down the wing and after setting up the first goal, he put Bolton in front and on their way to a 3-1 win with a rocket from long range.

Chris Burke (Nottingham Forest)
Scored just his second goal in 25 league games this season and also set up Forest's first in the comfortable win over Wigan.
Luke Murphy (Leeds United)
After being nominated for January's Player of the Month, Murphy's fine form continued as he opened the scoring to set Leeds on their way to a vital victory at Reading.
Bradley Johnson (Norwich City)
An all-action display from Johnson as Norwich moved to within a couple of points of the playoffs by edging out Charlton Athletic 3-2. He won the ball on several occasions and also teed up Lewis Grabban for the Canaries' second.
Craig Conway (Blackburn Rovers)
Blackburn's faint hopes of mounting a charge for the playoffs are still alive following their 2-1 success over Rotherham United. Conway put them in front with a dipping long-range effort.

Odion Ighalo (Watford)
Ighalo simply can't stop scoring at the moment. He now has 11 goals in seven league games after netting a match-winning brace Brentford, including a beautifully-taken volley in the 90th minute to steal the points.
Darren Bent (Derby County)
Turning out to be a very astute signing for Derby. He replaced the injured Chris Martin in the early stages at Dean Court and went on to set up the Rams' first equaliser before earning them a point with a rifled shot under pressure.

Numpty of the Week

Marcus Bettinelli: With Fulham searching for a late equaliser after throwing away a 1-0 lead at Bolton, Bettinelli gifted the hosts their third with a terrible clearance that went straight to Adam le Fondre, who made no mistake in finding an unguarded net.

Goal of the Week

Saidy Janko (Bolton Wanderers) vs. Fulham: The 19-year-old said that he closed his eyes when he smashed home the below goal. Imagine what he could do with his eyes open!

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Odion Ighalo of Watford celebrates scoring the fourth goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Watford and Charlton Athletic at Vicarage Road on January 17, 2015
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leicester CityLeicester443041086394794
2Leeds UnitedLeeds44279880374390
3Ipswich TownIpswich432611685533289
4Southampton442591085612484
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4420121267442372
6Norwich CityNorwich442191477611672
7Hull City441912136556969
8Coventry CityCoventry4317121468551363
9Middlesbrough44189176460463
10Preston North EndPreston44189175661-563
11Cardiff CityCardiff44195205061-1162
12Bristol City441611175147459
13Sunderland44168205251156
14Swansea CitySwansea441511185762-556
15Watford441217155958153
16Millwall441411194355-1253
17Stoke CityStoke441311204460-1650
18Queens Park RangersQPR441311204157-1650
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn441310215874-1649
20Plymouth ArgylePlymouth441212205869-1148
21Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds44138233968-2947
22Birmingham CityBirmingham441210224864-1646
23Huddersfield TownHuddersfield44917184774-2744
RRotherham UnitedRotherham44412283285-5324


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