Goalkeeper: Ross Turnbull (Doncaster)

Freed from the prison of the Chelsea bench this summer, Turnbull might have thought he could have attracted a club a little higher up the footballing food chain than Doncaster. However, he was excellent in keeping a clean sheet against Huddersfield on Saturday, who had the better of the 0-0 draw, taking 14 shots of which Turnbull saved six.

Full-backs: Kieron Trippier (Burnley) and Chris Cohen (Nottingham Forest)

Two of the most underrated players in the division, possibly due to their rather unglamorous positions, it's a surprise that no Premier League club appears to have registered a serious interest in either man. Particularly Trippier, who provided a constant attacking threat from right-back in Burnley's derby draw with Blackburn, while Cohen (actually a midfielder by trade) was again magnificent as Forest beat Barnsley 3-2.

Centre-backs: Liam Moore (Leicester) and Matthew Upson (Brighton)

After the free-spending transfer windows of years past, Leicester were notably more parsimonious this summer, recruiting only two players on free transfers. That gives a chance to youngsters like Moore, who was terrific at the heart of their defence next to skipper Wes Morgan against Wigan, and capped his performance by opening the scoring, courtesy of a very accommodating visiting defence. At the other end of the experience scale, Upson provided a calming and assured presence in the Brighton defence as they kept out Reading.

Midfield: Craig Bryson (Derby), Joey Barton (QPR) and Keith Andrews (Brighton)

Sure, it was 'only' against Millwall, who have yet to win a game this season and have lost all three at home, but if scoring a hat-trick is impressive in itself, scoring one from midfield is quite incredible. And what goals - Bryson's first two were thunderbolts from 20-plus yards, and the third followed a slicing run down the right flank, cutting in to round off the treble. And all in a rather 'spicy' atmosphere too, in which Derby right-back Adam Smith was substituted for his own safety after Millwall fans showered him with missiles, and another invaded the pitch to take a swing at Rams boss Nigel Clough.

It's probably fair to say that a) Joey Barton isn't shy of being the centre of attention and b) wasn't planning on playing in the Championship this season. However, to his credit Barton appears to be knuckling down, and whether or not that's simply in order to secure a move away from QPR in January is frankly neither here nor there - all Harry Redknapp and Rangers fans should care about is that he's playing well, something he continued against Birmingham. Starting alongside young Tom Carroll in midfield, Barton orchestrated things for the home side, passing and probing and providing the delivery from which Charlie Austin eventually smuggled in the winning goal.

Completing the midfield is the unglamorous water-carrier, the oft-derided Keith Andrews, who once came to symbolise the depressing mediocrity of Blackburn during their descent into farce under Steve Kean. Andrews is, of course, a perfectly competent and unfussy midfielder, a job he carried out with admirable efficiency against Reading.

Forwards: David McGoldrick (Ipswich), Lewis Grabban (Bournemouth) and Tom Ince (Blackpool)

If ever there was a poster boy for the benefits of a change of scenery, McGoldrick is the man. A clearly talented but largely frustrating presence at Forest, where he was in and out of the team for three seasons, McGoldrick flourished firstly on loan at Coventry, and now at Ipswich, for whom he bagged twice against Middlesbrough on Saturday. "He's a proper player and we're lucky that we've got him," said Town boss Mick McCarthy after their 3-1 win.

McGoldrick is [7.4] to be top-scorer in the Championship this season

Another striker in fine form is Lewis Grabban, who found the net for the fifth time in six games for Bournemouth against Blackpool. While his team went down 2-1 despite playing against ten men for half an hour, Grabban led the line well and drew the Cherries level with a neat finish in the first half.

Rounding off the forward line is Ince, who was actually pretty quiet for the first 30-odd minutes of his return to the Blackpool side after a spell out with a groin injury, but once the cobwebs had been brushed off he made his presence known by shimmying past a couple of baffled defenders before thwacking a shot against the post. Just after the break, Ince provided what turned out to be Blackpool's winning goal, whipping a free kick into the box for midfielder Neal Bishop to turn into the net. He also somehow managed to kick a ball into his own face while doing keepy-uppies before a corner, but nobody's perfect.

Blackpool are [3.5] to finish in the top six, and [7.0] to win promotion

