With seven away wins in the Championship there were plenty of fans making the long journey home happy. Who made The72 Championship team of the week? Find out here.
| Darren Randolph – Birmingham City – When a keeper plays as well as Randolph did at Bournemouth his side has a great opportunity to get the three points. The Blues were gifted an early two goal lead, but Randolph was tested for the rest of the game and earned his clean sheet bonus with a total of eight saves. The best of the bunch came late on with a double save in which he palmed away a stinging shot before diving to his left to parry away the headed rebound. |
| Marius Žaliūkas – Leeds United – The Lithuanian international has been the rock of the United defence all season and he put in another great display in their 3-0 away win at Doncaster. After taking a first half lead any attempted fightback by Rovers was thwarted by Žaliūkas and co as Leeds picked up there 6th clean sheet of the season and climbed back into the play offs. |
| Matthew Upson – Brighton – Upson has been the leader at the heart of the defence for Brighton all season and throughout his career he has always popped up with a vital goal now and again. That was the case at the Riverside when he headed late on to take the three points back down to the south coast. Brighton have lost just twice on the road this season and the foundations of that record have come from a solid defence with Upson at the heart of it. |
| Tommy Spurr – Blackburn Rovers – The signing of the commanding Spurr by manager Gary Bowyer from promoted Doncaster Rovers is looking more and more like one of the best bits of summer business in the Championship. Another towering display from the Yorkshireman in a hard thought 3-2 win at home to Millwall. |
| Glenn Loovens – Sheffield Wednesday – The free agent signing of ex-Celtic defender Loovens could be a turning point in Wednesday’s defensive woes. Despite Watford’s baron run of results they have still been scoring for a fun and to earn a clean sheet at Vicarage Road is no mean feat. The experienced Dutchman commanded the line helping Wednesday to their first away win of the season and the cusp of escaping the bottom three. |
| Tomasz Cywka – Barnsley – The Polish winger was on fine form in the huge six pointer at the foot of the table between Barnsley and Yeovil. He threatened early on when he forced Chris Dunn into a smart save before Yeovil snatched the lead. Cywka was at the centre of the Tykes response as he won them a penalty when he was tripped by James McAllister with Marcus Tudgay calmly converting the spot kick. |
| Craig Bryson – Derby County – The young midfielder features again for the 2nd time in a number of weeks as he builds his reputation as one of the Championship’s best creative players. Derby were far from their creative best in their 2-0 win away at Charlton but Bryson still shone as County won their 6th game on the spin. Bryson secured the win in the 87th minute when he chipped the ball over Alnwick to take his tally to 9 for the season. Derby are right on the heels of the top three waiting to pounce on any slip up and could easily find themselves in the top two by the New Year. |
| Matt Phillips – QPR – From the outset Phillips seemed determined to show his former employers what they were missing as he guided his new side QPR to a comfortable away win and a return to the summit of the table. It took until midway through the second half for the deadlock to be broken and it was Phillips who did so when his deflected shot from range beat Gilks in the Blackpool goal. He was not done there when minutes later he crossed for Charlie Austin to head home and secure the points. |
| Danny Ings – Burnley – It fell to Danny Ings to keep the Clarets at pace with the other leaders of the Championship table. The winter has seen Burnley’s magnificent start to the season stall a little, but Ings, who has overcome the minor injury he was nursing earlier in the month, netted smartly to earn Burnley a vital draw in their crunch game away at Leicester. |
| Jordan Rhodes – Blackburn Rovers – The prolific goalscorer maintained his great start to the season when he scored the first of a five goal thriller at Ewood Park. A trademark goal from Rhodes as he lost his man before slotting the ball into the bottom corner past the diving David Forde. Without Rhodes 12 goals in the Championship this season Blackburn would be in a relegation scrap, instead they find themselves on hunt for a play off spot. |
| Ross McCormack – Leeds United – It would be fair to say that Ross McCormack could set up a chair on the team of the week pitch in his current form. Just another game, another goal and another Leeds win as they climb into the play offs. His 16th league goal of the season came when he picked the ball up in stride and finished smartly from a tight angle. He added a cherry on top of the result when he crossed for Rodolph Austin to head home late on. McCormack now has 11 goals in his last 7 games and Leeds are almost certainly going to have to fend off interest from Premier League sides in January. |
Star man
| Matt Phillips: Some players find it difficult coming up against former sides but Phillips stood out at Bloomfield road with a goal and an assist to send QPR top, leaving Paul Ince pondering the budget restraints he is working under. |
