It was a fairly low-scoring weekend of Sky Bet Championship football on February 10 and 11, but that certainly did not remove the competition of any drama. Kick-started by a Friday evening clash between Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion, there was a surprise domination for Blues who got one over their West Midlands rivals.
Some clever quick-thinking from Manchester United loanee Hannibal Mejbri gave the home side the lead as he looked as if he was set to cross the ball in from a 30-yard free-kick on the right side, but he went for goal instead, beating David Button. Krystian Bielik then netted a header from a Hannibal corner early in the second half, rounding off a 2-0 win.
Elsewhere in the division, Middlesbrough made it four wins out of their last five with a 3-1 victory away at Cardiff City and Sheffield United beat Swansea City 3-0 to keep up with league leaders Burnley. Meanwhile, Wigan Athletic earned a vital three points in a relegation six-pointer against Huddersfield Town and Sunderland, who were narrowly victorious against Reading, closed the gap to the playoff places.
So many players impressed this weekend just gone that it would be difficult to select just 11 players to form a team of the week but, rather thankfully, WhoScored’s ratings system makes things a lot easier. With that in mind, here are the best-performing stars of the weekend based on WhoScored ratings. See below.
1. Ben Wilson - 7.5
Made five saves for a 10-man Coventry City in a 1-1 draw with playoff hopefuls Luton Town.
2. Trai Hume - 7.7
Was key in Sunderland’s 1-0 win vs Reading as he won four aerial duels and made 10 clearances.
3. Luke McNally - 8.2
Made five tackles including one last-man challenge, seven interceptions and five aerial duels to help Coventry City earn a point.
4. Jack Whatmough - 8.5
Netted the only goal of the game, won five aerial duels and also five clearances as Wigan beat Huddersfield.