MX23RW : Wednesday, December 25 17:06:21| >> :600:3490806:3490806:

Sports Mole's Championship Team of the Week

Sports Mole selects its best XI from Gameweek 26 in the Championship.

Gameweek 26 in the Championship served up 31 goals and two red cards as league leaders Leicester City continued their charge towards automatic promotion.

The Foxes won their sixth game in a row by stealing the points at Leeds United and are now five points clear of their nearest rivals Queens Park Rangers.

Eight of the 31 goals on Saturday came at the Madejski Stadium as Reading thrashed Bolton Wanderers 7-1 to move into the playoff places.

At the other end of the table, the bottom four sides all registered victories to make the bottom half of the table even tighter.

Below, SM picks out its best XI from Saturday's matches as well as highlighting the biggest numpty and the best goal.

Marek Stech (Yeovil Town)
Yeovil busted many a coupon yesterday by seeing off Birmingham City at St Andrew's, with Stech solid between the sticks as the Glovers kept their sixth clean sheet of the season.

Ryan McLaughlin (Barnsley)
Northern Irish teenager McLaughlin was making his debut for the Tykes after signing on loan from Liverpool and helped Barnsley to a clean-sheet victory over Blackpool. Unfortunately for the rockbottom Yorkshire club, everyone else around them also won.
Kaspars Gorkss (Reading)
A second week in a row in TOTW for the Latvian, who scored one of Reading's seven goals as they romped past Bolton.
Glenn Loovens (Sheffield Wednesday)
Wednesday's recent good run of form continued as they made it five games unbeaten by holding high-flying Burnley at Turf Moor. Loovens won plenty of headers at the back as the Owls held on to a point.
James Husband (Doncaster)
Another one of the struggling sides to pick up an unlikely win yesterday was Donny, who put three past Wigan Athletic to end Uwe Rosler's unbeaten start in charge of the Latics. Husband was a composed figure at the back all afternoon as Rovers kept an improbable clean sheet.

Garath McCleary (Reading)
McCleary provided assists for three of Reading's seven goals as Bolton crumbled at the Madejski.
Henri Lansbury (Nottingham Forest)
His two goals may have been penalties, but Lansbury was always a danger from midfield as Forest solidified their place in the playoffs with a convincing 4-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers.
Eunan O'Kane (Bournemouth)
The Cherries earned a point against Watford and O'Kane was a calm presence in the middle of midfield after picking up the club's Player of the Month award for December prior to kickoff.
James Coppinger (Doncaster)
Donny weren't fancied before kickoff but they upset the form book, with Coppinger netting the second from a tight angle.

Adam Le Fondre (Reading)
You can't ignore the only man to score a hat-trick this weekend. Le Fondre's came inside the first 33 minutes as Reading raced out to a lead before humiliating Bolton further.
James Hayter (Yeovil)
Hayter scored both goals for Yeovil in the first half as the Glovers won just their fifth game of the season.

Numpty of the Week

Dean Gerken: Ipswich Town are now without a win in four games and yesterday they gifted Millwall their first win in eight games when debutant Ryan Fredericks sent over a deep cross that goalkeeper Gerken misjudged and let into the far corner of his net.

Goal of the Week

Andy Reid (Forest) vs. Blackburn: Irishman Reid has been Forest's star player this season and scored a sweet goal yesterday by rocketing a 25-yard shot into the top corner.

ID:131463: cacheID:131463:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:6281:
Written by
Pascal Lemesre
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Yeovil's James Hayter celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal against Leyton Orient during their FA Cup third round match on January 4, 2013
Read Next:
Half-Time Report: Hayter brace puts Yeovil ahead
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1York City23146347202748
2Barnet23153547262148
3Forest Green RoversForest Green22137240182246
4Gateshead23135545281744
5Oldham AthleticOldham21127238191943
6Rochdale21113731191236
7Solihull MoorsSolihull2310584236635
8Halifax TownHalifax239862623335
9AltrinchamAltrincham239773730734
10Yeovil TownYeovil2310492825334
11Hartlepool UnitedHartlepool238962625133
12Eastleigh228863028232
13Sutton UnitedSutton239593029132
14Tamworth228592538-1329
15Dagenham & RedbridgeDag & Red227783529628
16Southend UnitedSouthend236982427-327
17Woking2366112133-1224
18WealdstoneWealdstone225892732-523
19Aldershot TownAldershot2358103240-823
20Fylde2364132847-1922
21Braintree TownBraintree2355131933-1420
22Maidenhead UnitedMaidenhead2355132745-1820
23Boston UnitedBoston2236131937-1815
24Ebbsfleet2316161754-379


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!