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Sports Mole's Championship Team of the Week

Sports Mole picks out its strongest XI, best goal and biggest numpty from yesterday's midweek fixtures in the Championship.

Eleven of gameweek 28's fixtures took place in the Championship yesterday, with 31 goals and three red cards served up on a dramatic Tuesday night.

At the summit, league leaders Leicester seem unstoppable at the moment after notching their eighth consecutive league win at Birmingham City.

They remain eight points clear of Queens Park Rangers, who overcame Bolton Wanderers at home, while Burnley dropped further behind with a goalless draw against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Derby County are now just a point adrift of the Clarets in fourth after they snatched all three points in the dying moments, completing a spectacular comeback from 2-0 down and breaking Yeovil Town's hearts.

That defeat left Yeovil dead last in the table because Barnsley earned a point against Blackburn Rovers to eek up to 23rd place.

Below, Sports Mole picks out its best XI from Tuesday's matches as well as highlighting the biggest numpty and best goal (apologies to Nottingham Forest and Watford, who don't play their midweek match until tomorrow).

Tomasz Kuszczak (Brighton)
Brighton became just the second team to keep a clean sheet at Turf Moor and Kuszczak made six saves to prevent Burnley's deadly duo of Sam Vokes and Danny Ings finding the net.

Luke Ayling (Yeovil)
When Craig Bryson found the net in the dying moments, Yeovil must have felt sick after they had taken a surprising 2-0 lead at the iPro Stadium. Ayling had put in a good shift and made plenty of tackles before the late heartbreak.
Alex Pearce (Reading)
The Royals bounced back from their defeat at Ipswich Town on Saturday with a rousing 5-1 victory over ailing Blackpool. Pearce was a rock at the back and also laid on one goal.
Leon Barnett (Wigan Athletic)
It was a bore draw at the Riverside as Wigan held Middlesbrough. Barnett won most aerial duals he had as the Latics gained a point from a tough away trip.
Stephen Warnock (Leeds United)
Leeds's stagnant run of form continued as they drew 1-1 with Ipswich. Brian McDermott's side are now six without a win in the league but did end a run of four straight defeats. Warnock was a regular outlet down the left and also whipped in some dangerous crosses that his teammates failed to get on the end of.

Tom Cairney (Blackburn)
The creative midfielder scored Rovers' first yesterday at Oakwell with a dipping volley from outside the area.
Eunan O'Kane (Bournemouth)
The Cherries ended a run of four winless league games by downing Huddersfield and O'Kane was the heart of a solid team performance.
Matty James (Leicester)
Can anyone stop the Foxes at the moment? Yesterday James was everywhere in midfield and barely put a foot wrong.
Mark Duffy (Doncaster Rovers)
Donny picked up three important points by convincingly coming past 10-man Charlton. Duffy was a regular threat and sealed the points with a long-range strike into the corner.

Adam Le Fondre (Reading)
Le Fondre picked up his second hat-trick in three games for Reading. Yes, his goals typified his poaching nature but he still took his chances when they came.
Rudy Gestede (Blackburn)
Gestede is enjoying a run in the Blackburn team and yesterday won a header to set up Cairney's goal and then scored himself to put Blackburn in front.

Numpty of the Week

Tommy Spurr: Gestede's strike looked to have put Blackburn in control but then Spurr needlessly fouled Liam Lawrence when challenging for a high ball in the area to gift lowly Barnsley a penalty and point.

Goal of the Week

Steven Davies (Blackpool) vs. Reading: It was nothing more than a consolation strike but you can't ignore Davies's rocket from at least 30 yards that flew into the corner.

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Written by
Pascal Lemesre
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Leicester's David Nugent celebrates a goal against Wycombe on August 6, 2013
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Championship Team of the Week
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leeds UnitedLeeds26158348192953
2Burnley26141023192252
3Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd26166436171952
4Sunderland25138438221647
5Middlesbrough26118743321141
6West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom26913432211140
7Blackburn RoversBlackburn2511682823539
8Bristol City2691073330337
9Watford25114103536-137
10Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds2610793840-237
11Norwich CityNorwich269984337636
12Swansea CitySwansea2697103030034
13Millwall257992423130
14Preston North EndPreston2661282834-630
15Coventry CityCoventry2678113437-329
16Queens Park RangersQPR2561182733-629
17Oxford UnitedOxford Utd2577112840-1228
18Derby CountyDerby2676133135-427
19Stoke CityStoke2669112432-827
20Luton TownLuton2574142642-1625
21Portsmouth2358103040-1023
22Hull City2658132536-1123
23Cardiff CityCardiff2558122540-1523
24Plymouth ArgylePlymouth2548132453-2920


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