Another award nomination double for Canaries

Norwich City boss Daniel Farke has been nominated for the Championship Manager of the Month award for a third consecutive month and Emi Buendia is the Canaries player joining him in the running for the December divisional awards.

Farke was nominated alongside keeper Tim Krul for October's awards and skipper Grant Hanley for November, but they were all overlooked, despite a strong start to the season which has City four points clear at the top of the table at the halfway point of the campaign.

In October it was Middlesbrough chief Neil Warnock and Brentford striker Ivan Toney pipping Farke and Krul to the awards and in November it was Watford's since-sacked manager Vladimir Ivic and Bournemouth forward David Brooks beating Farke and Hanley.

December saw the Canaries win five and draw one of their eight games during a hectic month, which has earned City's boss the nomination for Manager of the Month - an award he has won only once before, in November 2018, despite his success at Championship level.

The German has competition from former Canaries boss Alex Neil, whose Preston team also took 16 points from a possible 24 last month, as well as Brentford's Thomas Frank and Barnsley's Valerien Ismael, whose teams both claimed 18 points from their eight games.

Meanwhile, in-form attacking midfielder Buendia is nominated for Player of the Month, having already won the Canaries' monthly award for December, as voted for by fans.

The 24-year-old Argentine also faces competition from someone previously at Norwich, with Sergi Canos nominated thanks to four goals and three assists for Brentford last month. Buendia registered four goals and two assists to earn his nomination.

Also in the running is Derby's defensive midfielder Krystian Bielik, who helped the Rams concede just two goals in seven games, and Duncan Watmore, who scored five goals for Middlesbrough to shake off his injury problems after signing a short-term contract.

The judging panel for the Championship awards comprises Sky Sports’ EFL expert Don Goodman, EFL communications director Mark Rowan and Sky Bet EFL trader Ivor Davies, who are joined by former Barnsley boss Danny Wilson for the managerial award.

The winners are due to be announced on Friday morning.