MX23RW : Tuesday, April 23 10:53:48| >> :600:341261:341261:

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.

ID:211610: cacheID:211610:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7687:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
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
Read Next:
Championship Team of the Week
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CPortsmouth452713576413594
2Derby CountyDerby452781076373989
3Bolton WanderersBolton452511983483586
4Peterborough UnitedPeterborough442581186563083
5Barnsley4521121281631875
6Lincoln CityLincoln4520141165382774
7Oxford UnitedOxford Utd4521111377552274
8Blackpool4521101463451873
9Stevenage4518141355451068
10Leyton Orient451711175054-462
11Wycombe WanderersWycombe441613155854461
12Exeter CityExeter451710184559-1461
13Wigan AthleticWigan451910166156559
14Northampton TownNorthampton45178205665-959
15Bristol Rovers45169205266-1457
16Charlton AthleticCharlton451120146464053
17Reading451511196568-350
18Shrewsbury TownShrewsbury45139233464-3048
19Cambridge UnitedCambridge441210223860-2246
20Burton Albion451210233964-2546
21Cheltenham TownCheltenham44118253863-2541
RFleetwood TownFleetwood45913234672-2640
RPort Vale451010254174-3340
RCarlisle UnitedCarlisle4579294179-3830


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!