Emi Buendia led the Norwich City charge at the EFL Awards and was beaming with pride after being named Championship Player of the Season.

The creative midfield star beat Brentford striker Ivan Toney and Canaries colleague Teemu Pukki to the award, that the Finn won during City’s title triumph of two years ago.

He was also named in the division’s Team of the Season alongside Pukki, Grant Hanley and Max Aarons, with Daniel Farke named Manager of the Season as well – having been beaten to that prize by Chris Wilder of Sheffield United in 2019.

“Thank you so much, I’m really happy and proud to win this award,” said the Argentine, who won the award just a few hours after being named City’s Player of the Season.

“You always know after relegation from the Premier League how important it is to get promoted as soon as possible.

“We knew from the beginning it would be a really difficult season for everyone but I think the team performance during the whole season was amazing.

“To get promoted with so many points is amazing.”

The 24-year-old has 14 goals and 16 assists to his name so far this season and was asked how Farke had inspired an immediate return to the Premier League.

“As soon as I arrived here I felt the confidence that he gives me in each and every moment, every player needs to feel good playing football,” he continued, speaking to Sky Sports as he accepted the award via a video call.

“It’s more in training, the confidence he gives to each player is the difference to be good at this level and to be successful.”

There’s another prize for all of the City players to aim for now, knowing that victory over Reading at Carrow Road on Saturday will confirm the Championship title, as they sit five points clear of Watford with two games left to play.

“Everyone wants to be champions, it’s the best thing in football to lift trophies, it’s an amazing feeling,” Buendia added.

“So we want to win it again. We have a chance to make history in the club, we have two more games so we are really focused on these two games.”