MX23RW : Wednesday, March 12 11:45:57| >> :120:35707:35707:

Championship Team of the Week

Sports Mole picks out the individual best and worst of a fiery fourth round of fixtures in the Championship.

A fiery fourth round of fixtures in the Championship saw 42 goals and three red cards.

Six sides - Forest, Blackpool, Leicester, QPR, Watford and Leeds - still have unbeaten records, with Billy Davies's Forest on top thanks to their superior goal difference.

Below, Sports Mole picks out its best XI as well as highlighting this week's numpty and best goal.

Karl Darlow (Forest)
Just days after signing a new four-year deal, the Forest stopper put in a second-half performance against Watford to show why he is valued by Billy Davies.

Todd Kane (Blackburn)
The young right-back, on loan from Chelsea, provided a goal and two assists as Blackburn romped past a struggling Barnsley side.
Kirk Broadfoot (Blackpool)
Of the teams setting the early pace, Blackpool are the most surprising name at the top of the table. A clean-sheet victory against Reading was a great result for Paul Ince's side and the brave performance of Broadfoot at the back was key.
Richard Keogh (Derby)
A clean sheet away from home is the dream for a defender and that's what Keogh achieved as Derby trounced Yeovil. Keogh also provided an assist as Derby moved into the top half of the table.
Aaron Cresswell (Ipswich)
Despite being on the losing side, Ipswich left-back Cresswell was the star against Leeds. He took advantage of Leeds's narrow formation to bomb forward and deliver crosses. He almost scored a sensational goal too when his dipping strike crashed back off the crossbar.

Adam Hammill (Huddersfield)
A bench-warmer at the start of the season, Hammill's recent displays have seen him start for the Terriers and Saturday's opening goal and assist against Bournemouth will mean that the former Wolves man is a shoe-in for next week.
Diego Fabbrini (Watford)
Summer signing Fabbrini saw plenty of the ball against Forest and for the most part was clever in his use of it. Adlene Guedioura, in particular, had a horrible day marking the playmaker.
Grant Leadbitter (Middlesbrough)
It's not been the easiest of starts for Tony Mowbray's Boro but Sunday's draw at Wigan was an encouraging result. Leadbitter was the man of the match, setting up George Friend for the first before scoring himself after the break.
Joshua King (Blackburn)
He may have been taken off with 10 minutes to go against Barnsley but King's performance from the right wing was one of the main reasons Barnsley were so convincingly seen off at Ewood.

Jamie Vardy (Leicester)
Perhaps the lesser-known of Leicester's front three, Vardy outshone Chris Wood and David Nugent as the Foxes staged a dramatic late comeback to see off Birmingham and maintain their unbeaten record.
James Vaughan (Huddersfield)
Vaughan joined Troy Deeney at the top of the scorers chart with a hat-trick against Bournemouth as Huddersfield notched their second win of the season.

Numpty of the Week

Tom Heaton: It's rare for a keeper to be sent off for two separate bookings but that's what happened as Burnley keeper Heaton got lucky by only seeing yellow for bringing down Will Buckley before getting his marching orders for unsporting behaviour. It won't have impressed Sean Dyche as the Clarets' unbeaten start to the season came to an end on the South Coast.

Goal of the Week

Lewis McGugan (Forest) vs. Watford: The spotlight was on McGugan as he faced boyhood club Forest for the first time since leaving for Watford this summer. He wasn't fazed and curled home the Hornets' equaliser with a sublime free kick that started outside the post and bent back into the top corner.

ID:100719: cacheID:100719:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:5878:
Written by
Pascal Lemesre
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Watford's Lewis McGugan celebrates after scoring his team's fourth goal against Bournemouth on August 10, 2013
Read Next:
Championship Team of the Week
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool29217169274270
2Arsenal281510352242855
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest28156745331251
4Chelsea28147753361749
5Manchester CityMan City28145953381547
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2814594738947
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton28121064640646
8Aston Villa2912984145-445
9Bournemouth28128847341344
10Fulham2811984138342
11Crystal Palace2810993633339
12Brentford28115124844438
13Tottenham HotspurSpurs281041455411434
14Manchester UnitedMan Utd2897123440-634
15Everton2871293135-433
16West Ham UnitedWest Ham2896133248-1633
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2865173857-1923
18Ipswich TownIpswich2838172658-3217
19Leicester CityLeicester2845192562-3717
20Southampton2823232068-489


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!