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Sports Mole's Championship Team of the Week

Sports Mole selects its team of the week in the Championship, as well as highlighting the biggest numpty and the best goal from Gameweek 16.

Gameweek 16 in the Championship gave us just 21 goals and a pair of red cards on Friday and Saturday.

There is now a three-way lead at the top after Burnley drew their third consecutive game at Nottingham Forest, while Leicester City and Queens Park Rangers saw off Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic respectively.

At the bottom, Yeovil Town continue to prop up the rest but will feel some relief at the fact that other strugglers Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley also fell to losses against Huddersfield Town and Millwall respectively.

Here, Sports Mole picks out its best XI of the weekend as well as highlighting the biggest numpty and best goal.

Alex McCarthy (Reading)
A second week in a row in the keeper's spot for McCarthy after another save-heavy performance against Blackburn Rovers. It ended goalless at Ewood Park, with Reading now winless in four.

Bruno Saltor (Brighton)
The Seagulls right-back put in an all-action performance as Oscar Garcia's side picked up an unlikely away victory at Wigan Athletic.
Jamaal Lascelles (Forest)
The Forest centre-back kept the division's hottest strike duo in Sam Vokes and Danny Ings relatively quiet at the City Ground, with Vokes only finding the net from the penalty spot.
Alex Pearce (Reading)
Pearce was dominant in the air at both ends of the pitch while also shutting down the ever-dangerous Jordan Rhodes.
Tyler Blackett (Blackpool)
Manchester United teenage loanee Blackett made two goal-line clearances as the Tangerines drew 1-1 with Birmingham.

Tom Cairney (Blackburn)
Cairney looked assured on the ball all afternoon against Reading, making an impressive 88% of his passes in a slightly unfavoured role on the wing.
Adam Clayton (Huddersfield)
Clayton kept his head over a difficult bouncing ball to put the Terriers 2-0 ahead and out of reach against Yorkshire rivals Wednesday.
Nicky Bailey (Millwall)
A snappy performance from Bailey as Millwall arrested a slide of six games without a win against Barnsley.
Mark Duffy (Doncaster)
Duffy's free kick provided the unlikely winner for Donny after they had gone down to 10 men in the final moments against Yeovil.

Jamie Ward (Derby)
Ward made it five goals in seven games with the match-winner against Bournemouth as Derby's solid away form continued.
David Nugent (Leicester)
The Foxes' top scorer loves playing against Ipswich and made it 13 in 12 appearances against the Tractor Boys with a match-winning brace in Suffolk.

Numpty of the Week

Manuel Almunia: A second time this season that former Arsenal stopper Almunia has been our Championship numpty. The Spaniard earns the unfortunate accolade this time around because of his butter fingers that allowed Bolton's Jermaine Beckford to poke the ball in for the winner at Vicarage Road.

Goal of the Week

Charlie Austin (QPR) vs. Charlton: Known for his right-place-right-time prowess, Austin showed that he is not all about the poaching with a crisp 25-yard drive that flew into the corner as Rangers eked out another narrow victory while keeping their 10th clean sheet of the season.

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Written by
Pascal Lemesre
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A general view of Blackburn Rovers' stadium Ewood Park on October 30, 2010
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Wycombe WanderersWycombe20135243222144
2Birmingham CityBirmingham18133234161842
3Wrexham21126331141742
4Huddersfield TownHuddersfield20123534181639
5Stockport CountyStockport21106534221236
6Lincoln CityLincoln218762825331
7Reading209473030031
8Bolton WanderersBolton199462829-131
9Barnsley218672930-130
10Mansfield TownMansfield198472322128
11Charlton AthleticCharlton207672319427
12Blackpool207672931-227
13Exeter CityExeter208391922-327
14Stevenage197571517-226
15Leyton Orient207492320325
16Peterborough UnitedPeterborough2073103837124
17Wigan AthleticWigan206681918124
18Rotherham UnitedRotherham196581921-223
19Bristol Rovers2064101829-1122
20Northampton TownNorthampton2156102134-1321
21Crawley TownCrawley1954102032-1219
22Cambridge UnitedCambridge2045112035-1517
23Burton Albion2026121732-1512
24Shrewsbury TownShrewsbury2033142141-2012


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