The Football League awards take place in London this evening, celebrating the success of the standout talent from across the Championship and Leagues One and Two.
With that in mind, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the three-man shortlist for the Player of the Year accolade to see who will join the likes of Danny Ings, Matej Vydra, Rickie Lambert and Adel Taarabt in claiming the award.
1. Troy Deeney
Club: Watford
Age: 26
Championship appearances: 39
Championship goals: 20
© Getty Images
As the end of the season draws ever nearer, Watford are the side currently looking down on the rest of the chasing pack as they close in on a place in the Premier League. A large part of their success this season has been their ability to carve open teams and score at will.
Eighty-eight goals for the campaign, a tally bettered only by Bournemouth, has seen the Hornets stake a real claim to end the campaign on top. While manager Slavisa Jokanovic will no doubt declare that it has been a team effort, one man in particular - Troy Deeney - has once more led from the front to propel the North London outfit to the summit.
Having become the first Watford player in 50 years to score 20 goals in back-to-back seasons, it was widely expected that the Englishman would be plying his trade at a higher level this time around. Burnley in particular were said to be monitoring the striker's progress, although they were seemingly priced out of a move.
The 26-year-old certainly did not sulk, though, and he has reaped the rewards in some style by bagging 20 goals yet again, despite a somewhat slow start Seven of those goals came across a six-game spell during February and March - the perfect time to hit a rich vein of form - which saw Deeney crowned the Championship Player of the Month.
One performance in particular away at Fulham stands out in early December, a game which saw the former Aston Villa trialist score a hat-trick in what was a superb individual performance. Jokanovic this week claimed that his star man is a Premier League player in waiting and, even if Watford fail to get over the line in the closing weeks of the season, Deeney is being tipped to run out in the top-tier next season one way or another.
2. Daryl Murphy
Club: Ipswich Town
Age: 32
Championship appearances: 42
Championship goals: 24
© Getty Images
The top scorer in Championship football with 24 goals to his name, it is fair to say that Daryl Murphy has finally found a place where he can truly feel at home. Following three loan spells at Portman Road, in which he found the net 11 times, Mick McCarthy had clearly seen enough to merit landing the former Celtic man on a permanent deal in 2013.
Murphy has rewarded the faith that the Town boss has shown in him by leading the Tractor Boys' charge for a playoff place this season. His 29-goal partnership with David McGoldrick in his first campaign as a permanent fixture at the club offered plenty of promise, but he has used his role down the middle to push on this time around and take all of the plaudits himself.
Ipswich's long spell in the Championship may just be coming to an end should they see through their promotion push, and, if they were to prevail at Wembley next month, then the Irish forward deserves a lot of the praise. He may have scored just once in his last seven outings, but the December Player of the Month has popped up with many important goals throughout this term.
Things may not have worked out for him at Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday or Celtic in the past, but Murphy is reaping the rewards of playing in a settled No.9 position, becoming the first Ipswich player to reach 20 goals in a single campaign since Darren Bent did likewise in 2004-05.
The targets may be somewhat different around this part of the world a decade on from that top-flight jaunt, but should Murphy rediscover his goalscoring touch over the closing weeks of the season, then he may finally be able to show his worth at the highest level on a more regular basis.
3. Patrick Bamford
Club: Middlesbrough (on loan from Chelsea)
Age: 21
Championship appearances: 37
Championship goals: 17
© Getty Images
On the back of successful spells on loan at MK Dons and Derby County, English youngster Patrick Bamford has taken another step towards Premier League stardom by netting 17 goals at Championship level with Middlesbrough. His surprising strength for a player so young, combined with an ability to create space and bring others into the game, has marked the Chelsea loanee out as one for the future.
That said, the 21-year-old is also very much about the here and now. Should Boro win promotion to the big time this season, there is no question that the 6ft 1in forward will be a player in demand, meaning that there will be a big decision to make over his future. Does he attempt to break into the Chelsea first-team squad, where he will battle against the likes of Diego Costa, Loic Remy and Didier Drogba, or does he spend further time developing his game in the North East?
Whichever path is chosen, at this rate Bamford could offer a potent option for both club and country in the coming years, with Liverpool and Manchester City already witnessing first hand what the England Under-21 international is capable of. It was not until the turn of the winter that Bamford truly settled at the Riverside Stadium - in terms of scoring goals at least - finding the net six times in seven games to keep his side in contention at the top.
In fact, his performances in the Championship have caught the attention of Blues boss Jose Mourinho, who has acknowledged the importance of the young talent building up his experience away from Stamford Bridge.
Bamford, who has also been nominated for the Young Player of the Year award, comes across as being hungry - as witnessed by the recent penalty furore against Rotherham recently - to make a success of his career after turning down a Harvard University scholarship degree in order to focus on his one true love.
It is this drive which has seen him succeed wherever he has played so far, and it would be no great surprise to see him continue this development in the Premier League next season. Although whether that is with Middlesbrough, Chelsea or elsewhere remains to be seen.
