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Sports Mole's Championship Team of the Week

Sports Mole highlights the players that shone, and those that didn't, during matchday 39 in the Championship.

Seven games of the Championship season remain as the second tier enters its last international break of the season.

Bournemouth jumped up two places to take up the lead thanks to their 3-0 win over Middlesbrough in Saturday lunchtime's top-of-the-table battle.

Watford had the chance to reclaim top spot, but they were stunned in injury time by Ipswich Town, who moved back into the top six as Brentford dropped points at Millwall.

Derby County, meanwhile, are now six games without a win and just a point above seventh-placed Brentford after losing 2-0 at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday night.

Bottom club Blackpool ended their six-game losing streak in a 1-1 draw with Leeds United, but Lee Clark's side are almost officially relegated.

Wigan Athletic's woeful form at home continued, but their draw with Bolton Wanderers means that they are just five points from escaping the drop.

Here, Sports Mole chooses its best XI from matchday 39's action, in a traditional 4-4-2 formation, as well as highlighting the biggest numpty and best goal.

Marcus Bettinelli (Fulham)
The Cottagers moved eight points clear of the drop zone with a much-needed 2-0 win at Huddersfield. The second didn't arrive until deep in stoppage time, with Bettinelli's heroics between the sticks, including one penalty save, keeping Fulham in front.

Matt Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Wolves are only two points behind fifth-placed Derby after seeing off the Rams on Friday night. They can count themselves a little lucky to have taken all three points, but Doherty's display was vital as he played a key role in both goals.
Paddy McCarthy (Bolton Wanderers)
Bolton became the latest team to stop Wigan winning at home, with Crystal Palace loanee McCarthy making several interceptions and clearances. Bolton were on course for an away victory until Wigan snatched a point in the dying seconds.
Tommy Smith (Ipswich Town)
Back-to-back 1-0 wins for the Tractor Boys as they produced one of the surprises of the weekend by not only keeping out league leaders Watford, but also stealing the points at Vicarage Road. Smith's place in the team has been questioned of late, but he silenced the doubters with a faultless display.
Joe Bennett (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Brighton moved up to 16th and 10 points clear of the bottom three with a steely 1-0 win at Blackburn Rovers. Bennett saw plenty of the ball down the left and was key to the Seagulls' triumph.

Lewis McGugan (Sheffield Wednesday)
Four goals were scored after the 85-minute mark in Wednesday's match at nearby Rotherham United on Saturday and it was the Owls who snatched a remarkable 3-2 win. McGugan impressed with two assists.
Yoni Buyens (Charlton Athletic)
The Addicks have won seven of their last nine games to surge into the top half and on Saturday got the better of Reading in a five-goal game at The Valley. Buyens notched his seventh and eighth goals of the season. His second was his first from open play after the previous seven had all came from the penalty spot.
Harry Arter (Bournemouth)
Bournemouth handed Boro their heaviest defeat of the season and Arter was instrumental. He scored the second with an unstoppable long-range effort that went in off the post.
Wes Hoolahan (Norwich City)
Norwich took advantage of Boro and Watford losing by ousting Nottingham Forest 3-1 at Carrow Road. Hoolahan scored one and set up another of the Canaries' three goals.

Eoin Doyle (Cardiff City)
Cardiff won at home for the first time since January with a 2-0 victory over Birmingham City. Doyle broke the deadlock for his first goal in nine games since joining the Bluebirds from Chesterfield in the mid-season transfer window.
Martyn Waghorn (Wigan Athletic)
Might have only been on the pitch for a quarter of an hour, but Waghorn gave Wigan's hopes of staying up a big lift with a spectacular injury-time overhead kick against Bolton.

Numpty of the Week

Lee Grant and Nahki Wells: There were some awful errors in the Championship this weekend, so we've had to make this a shared award this week. Derby keeper Grant calamitously punched the ball into his own net to give Wolves some breathing space, while Wells missed two penalties against Fulham. The first was saved by Bettinelli before he struck the second against the post.

Goal of the Week

Cameron Jerome (Norwich City) vs. Nottingham Forest: Plenty of good goals to choose from, but we're singling out Jerome for his inventive backheeled finish that put Norwich two up on Forest. Cheeky! (skip to 1:10 in the video below)

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Alexander Kacaniklic of Fulham celebrates scoring during the Sky Bet Championship match between Fulham and Reading at Craven Cottage on January 17, 2015
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CManchester CityMan City38287396346291
2Arsenal38285591296289
3Liverpool382410486414582
4Aston Villa382081076611568
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs382061274611366
6Chelsea381891177631463
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle381861485622360
8Manchester UnitedMan Utd38186145758-160
9West Ham UnitedWest Ham381410146074-1452
10Crystal Palace381310155758-149
11Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton381212145562-748
12Bournemouth38139165467-1348
13Fulham38138175561-647
14Wolverhampton WanderersWolves38137185065-1546
15Everton38139164051-1140
16Brentford38109195665-939
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3899204967-1832
RLuton TownLuton3868245285-3326
RBurnley3859244178-3724
RSheffield UnitedSheff Utd38372835104-6916


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