Chris Hughton, Sam Winnall bag Championship awards

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 06 January 2017

Brighton & Hove Albion's Chris Hughton and Barnsley ace Sam Winnall are respectively crowned the Championship's Manager and Player of the Month for December.

Brighton & Hove Albion boss Chris Hughton has fought off competition from Garry Monk to be named the Championship Manager of the Month for December.

The 58-year-old saw his side collect 13 points from a possible 15, as the Seagulls' push for automatic promotion well and truly took off.

Hughton was up against Leeds United chief Monk, Fulham's Slavisa Jokanovic and David Wagner of Huddersfield Town for the accolade, which he was quick to dedicate to his playing and coaching staff.

"As a manager it's always wonderful. In effect, I'm only picking it up on behalf of my staff, but more so for the players," he said. "They've been outstanding for me and it's always a nice feeling when the club gets recognised for a way of playing. I'm picking it up on behalf of them."

There was to be no clean sweep of the awards for Albion, however, as David Stockdale missed out on the Player of the Month gong, which instead went to Barnsley forward Sam Winnall.

Winnall enjoyed a profitable month in front of goal, scoring six in six and helping Barnsley to stage an unlikely playoff challenge, including a memorable header from range in the win over Cardiff City.

The 25-year-old said: "It's a great honour and it's always pleasing to have a personal accolade like this. But it can't be done without the staff and the other players - so it's testament to how far we've come and how well we're doing as a team this season.

"The fact that our players are getting these awards in recognition for performances, shows that we're doing the right things here at Barnsley and everyone is riding the wave of success. It's not just my goals; everything contributes to this award.

"All the players, all the coaching staff, all the physios and sports science staff - everyone is doing such a good job this season and it's good to get that recognition and know that you're playing your part in something that's special and something that we're very proud of."

Nottingham Forest midfielder Henri Lansbury and Derby County boss Steve McClaren won the November awards.