Gab Sutton's EFL Team of the Week: Davis Keillor-Dunn only needed 34 minutes to earn star man

• 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

Sam Tickle – Wigan

The goalkeeping position has gone from being arguably Wigan’s biggest weakness last season, to their greatest strength in this one – and it’s all thanks to Sam Tickle.

After starring at youth level, the 22-year-old has continued his meteoric rise by starting all 45 league games this season, keeping 14 clean sheets and Saturday’s 2-1 victory at Portsmouth was another tremendous performance.

Defender

RB: James Dornelly – Peterborough

Right-back has been a problematic area for Peterborough since Peter Kioso got recalled by Rotherham, with replacement Jadel Katongo being a centre-back by trade and therefore not as attack-minded.

As such, after several cup appearances, boss Darren Ferguson gave the 19-year-old his league debut for Saturday’s 2-0 victory at Bristol Rovers – he impressed, and one suspects it won’t be the last Posh see of him, with their youth-oriented approach.

RCB: Japhet Tanganga – Millwall

Japhet Tanganga is one of the reasons Millwall will conclude an arduous campaign with a minimum 50 points.

The Tottenham loanee, who joined in January, has benefited from February’s re-appointment of club legend Neil Harris, who has overseen six wins in 11 – the Lions had only won eight in the other 33 league games!

Tanganga’s athleticism and battling qualities had been key to those victories, including Saturday’s 1-0 win at Sunderland – unfortunately, it’s unlikely the 25-year-old will remain in this part of the capital next season.

LCB: Jake Clarke-Salter – QPR

Jake Clarke-Salter’s partnership with the experienced Steve Cook has been one of the key factor’s behind QPR’s escape from the relegation zone under Martí Cifuentes – if we’re honest, it feels as though we could stick either in most weeks.

Considered an elite talent at youth level, the 26-year-old is enjoying arguably the best patch of his senior career under Cifuentes, and after another rock solid performance from him in Saturday teatime’s 1-0 victory over Preston North End, it was one particular moment that gives him the edge over his reliable defensive partner.

A pass was heading towards Ben Woodburn, but Clarke-Salter used his immaculate reading of the game to nip in ahead of the opposing forward and Cruyff turn his way to safety.

LB: Josh Tymon – Swansea

Seeking a fresh start after six years at Stoke on deadline day of the summer transfer window, Tymon has given everything since joining Swansea, growing into the season to become their most consistent performer.

Luke Williams appears to have aided his defensive game, such is his progress in 1v1s, but his main attribute remains ball-carrying, and a lethal left foot that’s seen him accumulate seven assists since January, including one in Saturday’s 4-0 victory at Huddersfield.

Midfield

RCM: Matt Grimes – Swansea

Sticking with the Swans, Grimes is perfect for the Luke Williams style – the same ideology as Russ Martin’s, under whom the deep-lying playmaker was one of the Championship’s top midfielders.

The skipper registered 96 passes in the demolition of the Terriers, with a 94% success rate, but it wasn’t all about controlling the tempo for the 28-year-old, who showed his ugly side by completing five tackles – this lad has fight as well as finesse.

LCM: Andy Cannon – Wrexham

In a season in which star performers like Paul Mullin started the season injured, and took a while to really catch fire, and Elliot Lee was phenomenal in the first half of the season before fading a touch, Andy Cannon has been Wrexham’s Mr Consistency.

The 28-year-old gets the Red Dragons through tough games with his tenacity but, in a side that tends to go long from the back, he’s the one entrusted with starting a lot of attacks and rarely cedes possession.

Cannon has a fierce shot on him, as his name might suggest, but he had to show composure to add the third in Saturday’s 3-0 thumping of Crewe as Phil Parkinson’s side, already promoted, continued their celebrations in style.

RW: Garath McCleary – Wycombe

Few would look at Garath McCleary and guess him to be 36 – the winger looks after himself superbly, thanks to consummate professionalism and a vegan diet.

Wycombe have struggled for a consistency source of goals from open play this season, so the veteran winger’s six has aided their ascent from 19 th in January to 11 the with one game to play, including a brace in Saturday’s 3-1 victory at Carlisle.

#10: Davis Keillor-Dunn* – Mansfield

With respect to Jodi Jones, Davis Keillor-Dunn can feel hard done by to have missed out on League Two Player of the Year, achieving 32 direct goal involvements in a promoted side.

The 26-year-old might only have played 34 minutes of Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Gillingham but, so emphatic was the forward’s impact in the turnaround, that he gets into this side regardless.

It was a clever ball, initially, from Stephen McLaughlin that set up the equalizer, and an even better glancing header across the box from Tom Nichols who isn’t an aerial specialist, but the first time volley from DKD was just astonishing.

LW: Bae Jun-Ho – Stoke

Stoke signed 19 players last summer, most on the younger side of the spectrum, and following that sort of turnover, it’s hardly shocking that they’ve struggled to translate top talent into a coherent side.

Despite the collective issues, Bae Jun-Ho has managed to stand out as an individual this season, with his pressing, playmaking and ball-carrying seeing him get Potters fans off their feat more than any talent since Bojan ruled at the Brittania.

After flourishing in a crucial 3-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle that hauled Stoke to the coveted 50 point mark after an arduous campaign, Jun-Ho surely awaits a call-up to the South Korea national team, when their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign continues in June.

Forward

CF: Joe Ironside – Doncaster

After starring in Cambridge’s memorable 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns, Joe Ironside dropped his performance levels last season and needed a fresh start.

The 6’4” target man has had just that at Doncaster, where he’s scored 18 goals – and surprisingly, they’ve been spread across the whole campaign, rather than condensed largely into the team’s stunning nine-game winning streak, although he did bag a brace in Saturday's 4-2 victory over Barrow.

Locally billed as “a warrior and a workhorse”, it’s believed that Rovers could still be struggling in the bottom half without him leading from the front.

Manager

Head Coach: Danny Röhl

The day before Danny Röhl took charge of Sheffield Wednesday, they were not only bottom of the table, but they had amassed a meagre three points from their first 11 games – the worst start in Championship history.

From his appointment onwards, they’ve taken 44 points from 33, miraculously managing top half form with a group that had looked dead and buried – and as it turns out, only top half form would have sufficed due to the likelihood of 50+ points being required to beat the drop.

Röhl’s work has been truly miraculous, and after the Owls climbed out of the drop zone for the first time at a crucial stage, it now feels likely that they’ll stay up under their incredibly talented coach, who has galvanized a club that looked in disarray.

The other big question is whether the 34-year-old remains at Hillsborough – his growing reputation in Germany will only be enhanced by his work in the Steel City, and a Bundesliga or more lucrative Championship offer could be around the corner.

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