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Sports Mole's Championship team of the week

Sports Mole picks out this weekend's strongest XI from the second tier.

Cardiff ousted Leicester thanks to Craig Bellamy to regain their three-point lead at the top of the Championship this afternoon.

At the other end of the table, all three clubs in the drop zone picked up maximum points, with Sheffield Wednesday edging Charlton, Barnsley overcoming Millwall and Peterborough beating Bolton 5-4 at London Road.

Here, Sports Mole picks out its top XI from Friday and Saturday in the second tier.

Carl Ikeme (Wolves)
The Wolves keeper was in magnificent form to keep out Blackpool on Friday night. There was one 90-second spell where he made three top-drawer saves to prevent the Tangerines netting a leveller.

Mark Little (Peterborough)
The Posh right-back was on the scoresheet as lowly Peterborough came out on top in a nine-goal thriller at London Road against Bolton.
Mark Hudson (Cardiff)
Hudson is a rock at the back for Cardiff and his back four kept their eighth clean sheet of the season in a tight win at Leicester.
Tommy Smith (Ipswich)
Mick McCarthy's men were not at their best in the draw against fellow strugglers Bristol City but Smith's overhead finish for the Blues' equaliser was a highlight.
Miguel Llera (Wednesday)
A rare clean sheet for the Owls and Spanish defender Llera also contributed an assist as Charlton were seen off at Hillsborough.

Wilfried Zaha (Palace)
The much-talked about Palace winger scored the hosts' goal with a blistering strike as they managed a draw despite going down to 10 men early on.
Robert Koren (Hull)
The Tigers are challenging Cardiff at the top and Koren's goals from midfield are one of the reasons why. The Slovenian netted his sixth in the league this term as Hull saw off Derby last night.
Stephen Dawson (Barnsley)
The Tykes picked up a surprise win at Millwall and Dawson contributed a goal as Keith Hill's side moved closer to escaping the drop zone.
Jeremy Helan (Wednesday)
Wednesday made it three wins out of three for the division's bottom three and Manchester City loanee Helan scored his first goal for the Owls to seal the points.

Luciano Becchio (Leeds)
After scoring against Chelsea in midweek, the Argentinian frontman netted both goals as Leeds saw off lofty Middlesbrough to move within a couple of points of the playoffs.
Matej Vydra (Watford)
The Czech striker moved into double figures for the season by scoring both goals as Watford saw off 10-man Forest to move into the playoff places.

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Barnsley's Tomasz Cywka and Sheffield Wednesday's Chris Lines battle for the ball on December 15, 2012
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leeds UnitedLeeds17105231121935
2Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd1711422491535
3Burnley179622161533
4Sunderland1796226121433
5Watford179262624229
6Middlesbrough178362920927
7West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom176921811727
8Blackburn RoversBlackburn167452017325
9Millwall166641914524
10Norwich CityNorwich175753125622
11Swansea CitySwansea176471615122
12Bristol City175752021-122
13Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds176472026-622
14Stoke CityStoke175661920-121
15Derby CountyDerby175572122-120
16Luton TownLuton175391829-1118
17Coventry CityCoventry174582225-317
18Oxford UnitedOxford Utd174581927-817
19Preston North EndPreston173861624-817
20Plymouth ArgylePlymouth174581834-1617
21Cardiff CityCardiff174491526-1116
22Hull City173681623-715
23Queens Park RangersQPR172871526-1114
24Portsmouth152671628-1212


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