The four nominees for December's Championship Manager of the Month have been revealed as Steve Evans, Aitor Karanka, Mick McCarthy and Dean Smith.
Evans enjoyed his best spell since taking over at Leeds United in the final month of 2015, leading the Whites to an unbeaten six-game stretch that started with an impressive 2-1 win over high-flying Hull City.
All five of Middlesbrough's matches under Karanka last month were against sides chasing promotion like themselves and they managed four wins and a 7-0 goal differential.
McCarthy is nominated for the second month in a row after winning the November award, with Ipswich Town again impressing with four wins in six games.
Lastly, Smith appears to be finding his feet at Brentford after the Bees were the top scorers in the Football League with 12 December goals, which helped them to 11 points out of a possible 18.
The winner will be revealed tomorrow morning.
Pascal Lemesre
