There could be some early silverware for Norwich City to celebrate this evening, as the annual EFL Awards are held with two Canaries players competing for the top prize.
Teemu Pukki is nominated for Championship Player of the Season, the award the Finn won two years ago, but so is City’s creative star Emi Buendia.
The division’s 29-goal top scorer, Brentford striker Ivan Toney, is the third man on the shortlist ahead of the ceremony – which is being shown live on Sky Sports from 7.30pm. Winners of the award in recent years have included Ollie Watkins, Patrick Bamford and Danny Ings.
Canaries right-back Max Aarons is also looking to win the EA Sports Young Player of the Season award, which he won in 2019, with Blackburn’s on-loan Liverpool attacker Harvey Elliot and Reading playmaker Michael Olise his competition.
Previous winners of the award include Gareth Bale, Dele Alli and Wilfried Zaha, with Jude Bellingham winning last year before joining Borussia Dortmund and swiftly earning his first England caps.
James Maddison was also nominated in 2018, at the end of the superb Canaries season which earned his big-money move to Leicester, but was pipped by Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon.
The award is partially decided by an online vote, equating to 25pc of the overall result, with the other 75pc made up of votes from the EFL Awards judging panel.
The Team of the Season for each division will be announced. Two years ago the Championship team included Pukki, Aarons and Jamal Lewis, with the overall EFL team featuring Pukki and Aarons – which Maddison was also included in at the end of 2017-18.
Divisional teams are due to be announced this evening and in previous years that has included a manager being chosen, with Chris Wilder being selected ahead of Daniel Farke in 2019. Norwich beat Sheffield United to the title but the awards were held earlier, with six games still left to be played.
Farke has been nominated for all but one of this season's Championship Manager of the Month awards but despite City's dominance, he is yet to win one - could that finally be rectified tonight?
Among the nominees for the best Football League performers of 2020-21 there is also a Canaries legend, with Wes Hoolahan nominated for League Two Player of the Season for his part in Cambridge United’s promotion push, at 38 years old.
The ceremony wasn’t held last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with winners announced online.
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