West Ham boss Slaven Bilic among January award nominees
Thursday 4 February 2016 11:37, UK
Slaven Bilic, Ronald Koeman, Manuel Pellegrini and Mauricio Pochettino have been nominated for the January Manager of the Month award.
West Ham boss Bilic saw his side pick up seven points last month, including wins at home to Liverpool and away to Bournemouth.
Southampton's Koeman is nominated after his side earned three wins from four matches during an impressive January that saw them defeat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford.
Pellegrini helped Manchester City maintain their title push with the club unbeaten in January, ensuring he is included in the list of nominees.
The Chilean saw his side come from behind to defeat Watford 2-1 at Vicarage Road on January 2, followed by a 4-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace two weeks later.
Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino completes the quartet, with Spurs victorious in two of their four games last month, including a 4-1 win over Sunderland and a 3-1 victory at Crystal Palace.
City, Southampton and Spurs could all be celebrating an awards double, with those teams also having representatives for the Player of the Month category.
Sergio Aguero has scored five times during January, including a double in the defeat of Palace, while Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli also gets a nod.
Southampton defender Virgil Van Dijk is also nominated for as string of impressive performances, as the former Celtic player helped the Saints pick up three clean sheets from their five matches.
Premier League leaders Leicester also kept three clean sheets in January, a fact recognised by the inclusion of goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
At the other end of the pitch, Sunderland striker Jermaine Defoe netted five goals during the month to help boost the club's survival chances.
The England international scored twice in the 3-1 victory over fellow strugglers Aston Villa before hitting a hat-trick in the 4-2 win at Swansea in their next Premier League fixture.
Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino is the final nominee, with the Brazil international scoring two goals in the 3-3 draw with Arsenal before finding the net twice more in the 5-4 win at Norwich.
The winners will be revealed from 6am on Friday morning on Sky Sports News HQ.
