Before we had time to catch breath from deadline day the Championship served up a typically exciting set of fixtures for us to enjoy. The shambles at Leeds has dominated the column inches, but there were some top displays around the league this weekend that should not go amiss. Find out who made the Championship team of the week here.
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Lee Camp – AFC Bournemouth – The keeper was in outstanding form for the Cherries as they hosted runaway leaders Leicester at Dean Court. Twice he denied James Vardy when he was through on goal and he blocked a blistering drive from Lloyd Dyer, all in the first half. The nil was robbed away in the last ten minutes when he couldn’t prevent Kevin Philips, however still a great display. |
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Michael Morrison – Charlton Athletic – Wigan have been freescoring of late especially at the DW so it was always going to be a tough test for Morrison and his fellow Addicks defenders who have been let down by a lack of goals from the strikers. They did get something in this game when Marvin Sordell opened the scoring after just three minutes. This gave Charlton something to hang onto and Morrison was dominant for 87 minutes until Wigan conjured up two moments of magic to snatch the clean sheet and the points away from Charlton. |
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Alex Pearce – Reading – The Royals have kicked on just at the right time if they want an outside shot at promotion. Nigel Adkins’ men have cemented 6th place as their own with a solid defence underpinning recent improvement. Pearce has been at the heart of the defence alongside Kaspers Gorkss and they have conceded just once in their last four. Pearce also popped up with a goal for his team smashing home from a tight angle. |
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Wes Morgan – Leicester City – It is hard to believe that Morgan is still plying his trade in the second tier, but the way his team are playing he will be stepping out in the Premier League soon enough. The captain led by example for the Foxes and dealt with the pace and trickery of the Bournemouth front line with what looked like ease. When Bournemouth brought on big man Yann Kermorgant Morgan adaped to the new threat with ease. A well earned clean sheet. |
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Jimmy Kebe – Leeds United – The pacey winger has not made the best of starts at Elland Road, well until saturday he hadn’t. This particular derby clash with Huddersfield will be one that all of football remembers. Despite strong reports on Friday evening suggesting boss Brian McDermott had been sacked, Leeds went out on the pitch with great intent. Kebe was a threat all game having the beating of his man from the off. His great display was capped off with a neat goal to put Leeds in front early in the first half. |
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Callum McManaman – Wigan Athletic – The midfielder was at the heart of all that was good about Wigan in their game against Charlton. He nearly got the Lactics back on level terms in the first half when his curling shot struck the bar and after the break his effort was parried to Nicky Marnard who finished but was in an offside position. The young man is really developing under Uwe Rosler and is showing qualities of a player much older than his years. He definitely has a future in the Premier League. |
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David Dunn – Blackburn Rovers – The Blackburn legend has continued to have another great season at Ewood Park and is a real servant to the club. There is a chance that Rovers could sneak a play off spot, but they will need to keep the pressure on. An organised home performance was enough to see off the struggling Blackpool. Dunn netted the winner in the first half with a sweet finish from the edge of the area. |
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Chris Maguire – Sheffield Wednesday – Some players pop up with that goal that defines a season for a team. Maguire might be that man for the Owls this term. He had a good game before being thrust centre stage in the closing minutes. The game looked set to be drifting to a goalless draw with relegation rivals Barnsley until Maguire stepped in to fire a truly sensational strike in the 7th minute of added time to snatch the win for Wednesday. |
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Ross McCormack – Leeds United – What a 24 hours for the Leeds captain. On Friday evening he came out and assured fans he was staying. Less than an hour later reports came of that Brian McDermott had been sacked and McCormack was live on Sky Sports in shock at the decision. Therefore for the Leeds skipper to come out in a tough derby game and lead from the front is quite something. He netted three times with some crisp finishes to end Leeds eight game winless run. The forward now has over fifty goals for the club. |
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Pavel Pogrebnyak – Reading – The big Russian striker has been really enjoying playing alongside Adam Le Fondre and the Pog was a great outlet for the Royals in their 3-0 away win over Millwall. He scored the first and his ninth of the season when he slotted home after Stephen Bywater fumbled the ball. Pogrebnyak’s powerful header was also too hot to handle and it fell to Alex Peace who cooly put the game to bed. |
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Sam Vokes – Burnley – Perhaps unfortunate to not feature in the team of the week more often, a lot of the time his work has been in the shadows of Danny Ings, but without his former Bournemouth team mate Ings would not have been so prolific this season. Vokes was the man that changed the game for his team on Saturday however, with a rapid second half brace to turn the game on it’s head. The first to get back on level terms when he volleyed home a Michael Kightly cross, before prodding the ball away after Danny Ings picked him out with a smart cut back. |
Star man
| Ross McCormack: Only one contender for the star man this week. You ask your captain to lead by example, inspire the team and be the link with the fans. McCormack in just a month into the role and has embodied all of these qualities and more. A superb hat-trick in very difficult circumstances gave Leeds fans some much need joy after weeks of anger and frustration. |
