Thursday 26 November 2015 14:47, UK
Sky Sports can now reveal the contenders for the PFA Fans' Player of the Month Awards for October.
Manchester United's Anthony Martial won the first Barclays Premier League award of the season and this month there is another stellar list from England's top-flight, featuring Arsenal duo Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne.
They will face fierce competition from the likes of Leicester's in-form forward Jamie Vardy - who has scored three goals in two Premier League matches so far this month - and Newcastle's Georginio Wijnaldum after he fired four past Norwich.
The competition is just as stiff in the Sky Bet Football League, with Chris Martin (Derby County), Rory Donnelly (Gillingham) and Reuben Reid (Plymouth Argyle) all featuring in the shortlists compiled by the expert panel of judges as they look to follow last month's winners Sheffield Wednesday's Ross Wallace, Colchester's George Moncur and Plymouth's Graham Carey.
Every month, throughout the English football season, fans will have the opportunity to vote on skysports.com for who they think has been the best player in each of the Barclays Premier League, Sky Bet Championship, Sky Bet League One and Sky Bet League Two, after Sky Sports teamed up with the PFA to be the digital platform for the Awards.
Before the vote opens each month, an expert panel will produce a shortlist of contenders. Fans will then be able to vote for the player they think deserves the award.
One voting fan in each division, who is a resident in the UK or Ireland, will win the chance (subject to terms and conditions) to meet and present the award to each PFA Fans' Player of the Month. And that's not all - one of the winners will join the experts on the following month's shortlisting panel.
The panel includes Sky Sports football pundits Paul Merson, Ian Holloway and Peter Beagrie. That trio will be joined by Mike Riley, general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials, and Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters Federation, as well as the winning fan from each month.
The shortlists for the October awards have been announced and the following are in contention:
Premier League
Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)
Christian Eriksen (Tottenham)
Dimitri Payet (West Ham)
Georginio Wijnaldum (Newcastle United)
Jack Butland (Stoke City)
Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool)
Mesut Ozil (Arsenal)
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
Sadio Mane (Southampton)
Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace)
Championship
Alan Judge (Brentford)
Andre Gray (Burnley)
Benik Afobe (Wolves)
Chris Martin (Derby County)
Demarai Gray (Birmingham City)
Fernando Forestieri (Sheffield Wednesday)
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (QPR)
Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn)
Lewis Dunk (Brighton)
Michael Hector (Reading)
Nick Blackman (Reading)
Tom Ince (Derby County)
League One
Che Adams (Sheffield United)
Devante Cole (Bradford City)
Jake Hessenthaler (Gillingham)
Joe Piggot (Southend)
Jon Taylor (Peterborough United)
Mark Cullen (Blackpool)
Michael Higdon (Oldham)
Paddy Madden (Scunthorpe United)
Peter Vincenti (Rochdale)
Rory Donnelly (Gillingham)
Sullay Kaikai (Shrewsbury Town)
Will Grigg (Wigan Athletic)
League Two
Hiram Boateng (Plymouth Argyle)
Jay Simpson (Leyton Orient)
Jermaine Easter (Bristol Rovers)
Liam Sercombe (Oxford United)
Malvind Benning (Mansfield Town)
Marc Richards (Northampton Town)
Matthew Tubbs (Portsmouth)
Matt Taylor (Bristol Rovers)
Reuben Reid (Plymouth Argyle)
Roarie Deacon (Crawley Town)
Shaun Miller (Morecambe)
Tom Barkhuizen (Morecambe)
After the final weekend of league action, an even shorter list of leading contenders will be announced, however voting will remain open until Monday, November 2.
The winner will be announced after the round of fixtures starting on November 3.
Have your say NOW - vote at www.skysports.com/pfafanvote
To be eligible for the prize, voters must be 18 or over and be a resident of UK or ROI. Travel costs are not included as part of the prize. Click here to read the full terms and conditions.
