Thursday 4 February 2016 07:06, UK
Hull, Burnley and Birmingham are strongly represented in the nominees for the Sky Bet Championship Awards for January.
Tigers boss Steve Bruce will compete for the Manager of the Month award with Clarets gaffer Sean Dyche, Birmingham's Gary Rowett and Dougie Freedman of Nottingham Forest.
And the Player of the Month gong will go to either Abel Hernandez (Hull), Ben Mee (Burnley), Maikel Kieftenbeld (Birmingham) or Gary Hooper (Sheffield Wednesday).
Bruce has been nominated for guiding Hull to the top of the Championship standings, as they bid for an immediate return to the top flight.
The Tigers enjoyed a perfect January, scoring 11 goals and winning all four of their matches, a pair of comfortable home wins augmented by hard-fought victories at QPR and Fulham.
Third-placed Burnley are also seeking a quick return to the top flight and they are hot on the heels of the teams in the automatic promotion spots.
Dyche steered his men through a tricky autumn and they really found their stride in January with 10 points and 12 goals in four matches.
Meanwhile, Rowett continues to earn plaudits for the job he has done at Birmingham and the eighth-placed Blues are right in the thick of the play-off race, having made light of some tricky-looking January fixtures, taking 11 points from five games and beating Derby and Ipswich 3-0.
Nottingham Forest are 11th, nine points off the play-off places, but Freedman is doing sterling work at the City Ground, masterminding a second successive unbeaten month and a win at title-chasing Middlesbrough, despite the loss of some key players to injury.
Turning to the Player of the Month contenders, and Hull's promotion charge is being spearheaded by Hernandez.
The Uruguayan forward scored six goals in four January games, including a hat-trick in the 6-0 demolition of Charlton.
Burnley have been strong at both ends of the pitch in January and Mee is among the nominees, having moved seamlessly from full-back to the heart of the defence, particularly impressing in a 4-1 thrashing of Derby.
Over at Birmingham, cultured Dutch midfielder Kieftenbeld has been catching the eye, scoring three goals in the month, including fine volleys against Derby and Ipswich.
Sheffield Wednesday are another side enjoying a good season and, having arrived on a permanent deal in January, striker Hooper is playing his part in their play-off bid, having bagged five of the Owls' seven goals in the month.
The award winners will be announced on Friday morning.
