Premier League: Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini and QPR's Charlie Austin win monthly awards
Friday 16 January 2015 13:17, UK
Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini and QPR striker Charlie Austin have won the Barclays Premier League Manager of the Month and Player of the Month awards for December.
Pellegrini's champions enjoyed a stellar month, recording five consecutive league wins which began with an impressive 4-1 victory at Sunderland.
Victories over Everton, Leicester, Crystal Palace and West Brom followed and only a spirited performance from Burnley could deny them all three points in their final fixture of 2014 as their title defence continues to gather momentum.
"I think it was a very good month for us because the team played very well," Pellegrini told Sky Sports News HQ. "We won five games and drew one and that allowed us to be near the top of the table.
"December is a key month. It may not be the month where the title is decided but you must be near the top of the table if you are to have a good second round, so it was very important for us to finish the year that way."
Austin's goalscoring feats have kept struggling QPR in with a chance of beating the drop and his recent form has led to calls for his inclusion in England's next squad.
It was a bitter sweet start to the month for the 25-year-old as he found the net before being sent off in a 2-0 victory over relegation rivals Burnley at Loftus Road.
Two weeks later, his inspired hat-trick clinched Rangers a crucial 3-2 home victory over fellow strugglers West Brom and he rounded off a fruitful month by finding the net once more in the 2-1 defeat at Arsenal.
"I just try and work as hard as I can and score as many goals as I can for QPR," Austin said. "To get awards like this is very pleasing."
Austin becomes only the second QPR player to win a Premier League Player of the Month award, joining Trevor Sinclair who took tho honour in October 1995.
