Gab Sutton's EFL Team of the Week: Darren Moore takes manager gong

• Gab Sutton is a football expert who specialises in the Sky Bet EFL.

After every weekend of action, he builds an EFL Team of the Week and picks out a Sporting Life Star performer.

Goalkeeper

Owen Goodman – Colchester: Even with the most spirited, committed, defensively-organised display in Nottinghamshire, Colchester were always going to need their goalkeeper on top form to add to their points tally at Mansfield, especially in the leaders’ current vein of form.

Luckily for boss Danny Cowley, Owen Goodman was just that, making a string of fine saves including a low, reaction stop to deny Baily Cargill’s point-blank header.

Defenders

Jamie Sterry* - Doncaster: Rovers have taken 24 points from the 15 league games summer recruit Jamie Sterry has started, and 25 from the other 23 – that’s a 47% improvement with the former Newcastle trainee on the pitch.

Despite the efforts of Tom Nixon, the 28-year-old’s stamina, drive and link-up play has made him indispensable to Grant McCann’s side, and his relationship with Luke Molyneux – initially established at Hartlepool with 2021-22 – has meant getting him back in December has been a bit like two new players in one.

Rod McDonald – Harrogate: Putting his Carlisle struggles behind him, Rod McDonald was Player of the Year at Crewe in 2022-23, so his signature at Harrogate in the summer represented quite the coup for the North Yorkshire club.

The centre-back has been dominant in the air, as expected, for Simon Weaver’s side when he’s played, but injury in late-November’s 2-2 draw with Wrexham ruled him out for over three months.

After returning for a five-minute cameo in the goalless draw at Barrow, though, McDonald went straight back into the heart of defence for a 3-0 derby victory over Bradford, looking as though he’d never been away.

Rory Feely – Barrow: The defensive trio of James Chester, George Ray and Niall Canavan have started simultaneously 22 times out of a possible 33 since the former signed in September as a free agent, then lacking match practice.

They’ve established a strong collective understanding, and been a core part of Barrow’s promotion charge against the odds.

In some ways, it’s hard for someone to replace any one of those players given how important they’ve been, but in others it’s easy, coming into such a tight unit – and that’s exactly what Rory Feely has done.

On the periphery for much of the season, Feely has performed admirably when called upon in Canavan’s absence, winning three aerial duels and completing two tackles in the 1-0 victory over Newport as the team concedes just one goal in four with him in the side.

Ibou Touray – Stockport: The Hatters extended their unbeaten streak to six games with a 5-0 thumping of promotion rivals MK Dons on Saturday teatime, and Ibou Touray played no small part.

The Gambian left-back took some time to find his feet, but he was excellent in the second half, uncompromising defensively and made a strong run in the lead-up to the fourth goal.

Midfielders

Andy Cannon – Wrexham: Two powerful efforts from Andy Cannon were ultimately what separated promotion-chasing Wrexham from hosts Grimsby in a 3-1 victory at Blundell Park.

The first came from a jinking run through midfield, before Cannon unleashed a rasping strike that proved too hot for Harvey Cartwright to handle, the second a fierce first-time strike following Tom O’Connor’s through ball on a sizzling counter-attack.

The former Rochdale midfielder only had one league goal to his name prior to Saturday’s brace in Cleethorpes, but if he can add to the trebled tally, it would make all the difference to the Red Dragons’ promotion ambitions.

Matthew Craig – Doncaster: Patience was the order of the day for Doncaster, in their 2-0 win over relegation strugglers Forest Green.

That, though, was exactly what Tottenham loanee Matthew Craig could provide, unpicking the visitors, who sat in a deep-block, 5-4-1.

Craig brought class, grace and style to the Donny midfield, and has made a real impact behind Rovers’ improved form in the second half of the campaign.

Callum Camps – Stockport: Callum Camps has often been associated with being a highly technical midfielder who doesn’t have much of an engine, or a combative streak, but he showed plenty of both to grab the opener in Saturday's 5-0 thumping of MK Dons, stealing the ball from goalkeeper Michael Kelly to slot home from a tight angle.

Camps has taken on more importance in midfield in the middle portion of the season, with Ryan Croasdale only just back from injury, and Antoni Sarcevic and Will Collar still absent, but he’s risen to the challenge and if he can start to add goals to his game like he did on Saturday, that run-in could become a lot smoother for the Hatters.

Forwards

Luke Molyneux – Doncaster: It’s hard not to mention Molyneux in the same breath as Sterry, because his whole game is about jinking in from the right channel and conjuring moments of quality with his left peg, something that becomes a lot harder without a corresponding right-back posing a threat, and even an overloading right midfielder – like Joe White at Hartlepool, or Owen Bailey at Doncaster.

In the right setup, though, Molyneux is undoubtedly one of the most dangerous forwards in League Two, and he’s shown it in recent weeks with three goals in his last six.

Dan Butterworth – Carlisle: It’s been a bleak season on the pitch for Carlisle, even with plenty of hope offered off it, so the Cumbrians will be hoping to use the remainder to take some optimism with them back down to League Two.

One source of such optimism could be the partnership emerging between target man Luke Armstrong, and withdrawn forward Dan Butterworth.

The former Vale man showed sharp movement to get to the back-post for the opener, turning home Jack Ellis’ cutback, in the 2-2 draw with Stevenage, before showing a jolting turn of direction from outside the box to drill home the second in the second half.

Paddy Madden – Stockport: Early in the season, some questioned whether Paddy Madden could still deliver as a top-end League Two centre-forward at 34, and there’s been times where he might’ve been considered fourth choice striker with everyone fit.

The Irishman has had a point to prove lately, and was sensational in the 5-0 thumping of MK Dons, showing up all over the pitch through his infectious work ethic and smart link-up play.

As well as producing a firm finish one-on-one and chipping in with two assists, conjuring up an inch-perfect through ball for Kyle Wootton in the second half, Wootton was also back when needed for the odd strong defensive header – a fine all-round performance.

Manager

Darren Moore – Port Vale: Moore has had to stay positive at Port Vale after a tough start to his tenure, overseeing two points from a seemingly favourable first eight fixtures in charge.

Moore inherited myriad problems, from a defence that had looked fragile all season, to a midfield significantly weakened from the first half of the campaign, to a misfiring attack, and troubleshooting them simultaneously was always likely to be tough.

On Saturday, though, Moore got off-and-running with a 1-0 victory at Burton thanks to an industrious showing from front-man Ryan Loft, who ultimately grabbed the winner.

With the Brewers out of form, as well as Cambridge, Vale are a mere three points shy of both sides, who are just outside the drop zone, with a game in hand on the latter, and all of a sudden survival no longer looks mission impossible.

If Moore has one main quality, it’s his ability to galvanize people and get them believing – he seems to have done that at Vale Park.

More from Sporting Life

• Fixtures, results and live scores
• Expert xG analysis and features
• Transfer news and done deals
• Football and other sports tips
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.