MX23RW : Monday, November 25 02:05:50| >> :120:47337:47337:

Sports Mole's Championship Team of the Week

Sports Mole picks out the top performers from the penultimate weekend of the season in the Championship.

The Championship season is almost over, and with just one matchday left of the season, we now know which two sides will occupy the automatic promotion places come 2pm on Saturday.

Watford have been confirmed as promoted after results went their way on Saturday, while Bournemouth are as good as up because of their far superior goal difference following last night's 3-0 win over Bolton Wanderers.

Middlesbrough and Norwich City will have to go through the playoffs if they want to return to the Premier League after both dropped points on Saturday, while the final two top-six places are yet to be determined.

As it stands, Ipswich Town and Derby County will have their seasons extended, but both Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers could take their places on the final day.

Down at the bottom, both Millwall and Wigan Athletic are still alive in the relegation scrap, but a win for Rotherham United in their game in-hand against Reading later tonight will confirm the former duo's doom.

Here, Sports Mole chooses its best XI from the matchday 45's action, as well as highlighting the biggest numpty and best goal.

Heurelho Gomes (Watford)
The Hornets ended an eight-year absence from the top flight by seeing off Brighton & Hove Albion and then watching both Boro and Norwich fail to win. They weren't at their best at The Amex, but a flawless performance from Gomes between the sticks helped them come through.

Adam Smith (Bournemouth)
Eddie Howe has had the luxury of picking a first-choice XI for most of the season, but he was without number-one right-back Simon Francis against Bolton. Step in Smith, who committed a poor challenge in the Cherries' last game which gifted Sheffield Wednesday a late penalty, but recovered from that with an all-action display on Monday night.
Ethan Ebanks-Landell (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Wolves still have an outside chance of finishing in the playoff places thanks to their narrow win at struggling Wigan. Their attack wasn't at its best, but Ebanks-Landell, on his first start in five months, helped them keep the Latics out.
James Tarkowski (Brentford)
Brentford also could sneak into the top six after they stayed within touching distance with a 2-0 win at Reading. As well as keeping a clean sheet, Tarkowski headed home the second which sealed the points.
Lloyd Dyer (Birmingham City)
Dyer came off the bench against Charlton to score Birmingham's winner with a crisp, low finish from a tight angle.

Matt Ritchie (Bournemouth)
Unlucky not to be included in the shortlist for the Championship Player of the Year, Ritchie showed why he has been one of the league's top players with a goal and an assist against Bolton. The winger has now been involved in 30 of Bournemouth's league-high 95 goals this season (13 goals, 17 assists).
Jacob Butterfield (Huddersfield Town)
The Terriers' standout midfielder this season, Butterfield scored one of the goals of the weekend with a curling free kick in the 2-2 draw with Blackburn Rovers.
Jamie O'Hara (Blackpool)
By going down 3-2 at Cardiff City, Blackpool have now gone all season without an away win. However, bar a couple of silly challenges in the box which handed Cardiff two penalties, it could have been a different story. O'Hara put in a classy display in the Welsh capital, setting up several good chances for his teammates.
Alan Judge (Brentford)
If the Bees just miss out on the playoffs it will have still been a brilliant season and Judge was one of their stars on Saturday with a goal and an assist.

Lee Gregory (Millwall)
A first Football League hat-trick for Gregory, whose treble almost gave Millwall three points against playoff hopefuls Derby.
Ross McCormack (Fulham)
Last season's top-scorer McCormack also scored three as Fulham ended Middlesbrough's automatic promotion hopes. It might not have completely gone to plan for the Scot since his big-money move from Leeds last summer, but he now has 17 for the season.

Numpty of the Week

Lee Grant and Craig Forsyth: A few candidates this week, but the way Millwall scored their first was calamitous from Derby's point of view. First, Grant's sliced kick went straight to Gregory, who then managed to dink the keeper. His shot shouldn't have gone in, though, because Forsyth was back covering but somehow failed to clear the ball from under his own crossbar.

Goal of the Week

Jeff Hendrick (Derby County) vs. Millwall: Derby sweep the numpty and best goal awards this week because of Hendrick's brilliantly controlled volley which salvaged the Rams a point at The Den. Take a look at both Millwall's comical opener and Hendrick's superb winner in the video below.

ID:219813: cacheID:219813:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7821:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Lee Gregory of Millwall celebrates his goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Millwall and Derby County at The Den on April 25, 2015
Read Next:
Derby fightback sees Millwall slip into drop zone
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leeds UnitedLeeds1695228121632
2Sunderland1695226121432
3Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd1610422191232
4Burnley168621961330
5Middlesbrough1683529191027
6West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom166821811726
7Watford168262524126
8Millwall166641914524
9Blackburn RoversBlackburn156451917222
10Bristol City165742020022
11Derby CountyDerby165562020020
12Stoke CityStoke165561920-120
13Norwich CityNorwich164752524119
14Swansea CitySwansea165471414019
15Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds165471826-819
16Luton TownLuton165381826-818
17Coventry CityCoventry164572223-117
18Oxford UnitedOxford Utd164571924-517
19Plymouth ArgylePlymouth164571728-1117
20Preston North EndPreston163761624-816
21Cardiff CityCardiff164481524-916
22Hull City163671621-515
23Portsmouth152671628-1212
24Queens Park RangersQPR161871326-1311


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!