By Charlie Elliott
Preston North End were busy flying the EFL flag high in their valiant FA Cup effort against Aston Villa, but the rest of the three leagues were entirely focused on the run-in.
Whether teams are playing for promotion, to stay up or just for pride, crunch time is well and truly upon us, and every game seems to mean more.
Port Vale left it late on derby day to beat Crewe Alexandra and climb up into the automatic places in League Two, while city neighbours Stoke City beat Queens Park Rangers 3-1 to get out of the relegation zone in the Championship.
Here is Charlie Elliott’s Team of the Week with seven games left in the season now.
Angus Gunn (Norwich City)
Norwich City left it late to beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at Carrow Road, with a Josh Sargent strike after 92 minutes, the only goal of the game.
The Canaries might not have been in the position to win if it wasn’t for an outstanding goalkeeping performance from Angus Gunn.
Six saves across the course of the game and a lot of balls claimed in the box shows what a commanding game the Scottish international had.
His side will now be hopeful that they can make a late playoff push, with only seven games left and trailing sixth-place side West Brom by just five points.
Junior Tchamadeu (Stoke City)
For all the poor business that Stoke have been guilty of conducting in recent years, they pulled off a masterstroke when they signed Junior Tchamadeu from Colchester United.
The attacking right-back grabbed himself a goal and an assist in the Potters’ 3-1 home win against QPR.
A tidy cross from Tchamadeu set up Joon-Ho Bae to open the scoring, and the Cameroonian doubled his side’s lead with a powerful low finish on his left foot after the ball came out to him on the edge of the box.
At 21-years-old, he is still a raw talent – but he seems to have settled in nicely with the Staffordshire outfit.
Ben Davies (Birmingham City)
Like most of Birmingham City’s squad, Ben Davies is too good for League One.
The sheer gap in quality between Blues and the rest is why they are nine points clear at the top of the table, following their 4-1 win at home to Shrewsbury Town.
Davies was heavily involved in a lot of the play at the back for his team, with the most passes, most tackles and most duels won in the game.
Not only that, but he scored the opener, sliding in to finish Kieran Dowell’s free kick from the left-hand side.
Taylor Allen (Walsall)
Walsall are making such hard work of winning League Two, but somehow still find themselves top of the table despite a poor run in recent months.
Centre-back Taylor Allen is one of the few players who has been able to hold his head up high in this run.
He can do so again after a late equaliser against AFC Wimbledon, which took them one point ahead of Bradford City.
The defender finished a free kick from the edge of the box masterfully, which was his 15th league goal of the season, an insane number for a defender.
Joe Bryan (Millwall)
Millwall may have fallen to a 1-0 defeat against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, but it was the Joe Bryan show.
The left-back showed that class is permanent with some obscene numbers on either side of the ball.
Five dribbles completed and seven tackles is arguably the perfect stats sheet for a full-back, and should his team have had better end product, those numbers could have been improved.
A class above the rest of his team on numerous occasions this season, Bryan looks to have rediscovered the form that saw him play in the Premier League for Fulham.
Owen Bailey (Doncaster Rovers)
Doncaster Rovers got the most comfortable of comfortable wins when they beat Carlisle United 3-0 in League Two.
Midfielder Owen Bailey was instrumental in the easy win, with a goal and an assist for the first and third goals.
A scrappy finish from the edge of the box that trickled past the keeper got Donny’s first, while a great interception and square pass to Harry Clifton secured the points.
Carlisle are now bottom of League Two after Morecambe’s 1-0 win over Swindon Town, while Rovers sit just outside the automatics in fourth.
Kamari Doyle (Crawley Town)
Who would have expected Crawley Town to beat Rotherham United 4-0 away from home?
Well, that is exactly what they did, with the Brighton & Hove Albion loanee, Kamari Doyle, leading the Red Devils to victory.
The former Southampton man scored a brace to make it three goals in two games and nine goal involvements for the season.
His technique for both goals was unbelievable.
For his first, he took it first time on the edge of the box and side-footed it into the top corner with his right foot.
Doyle’s double and Crawley’s second of the game came courtesy of him finding a bit of space in the box and stabbing it low into the corner.
Million Manhoef (Stoke City)
Not the only player from Stoke’s right-hand side to make it into this team, Million Manhoef’s link-up play with Tchamadeu was unbeatable.
In a proper striker’s fashion, the Dutch winger rounded the keeper and finished into an open net to round off the scoring.
Manhoef had the better of his fullback and looked to create things all afternoon.
Victory for the Potters was essential, as it takes them four points clear of the relegation zone in the Championship.
Luke Berry (Charlton Athletic)
Luke Berry played 17 games in the Premier League last season; now, the attacking midfielder is tearing it up in League One.
A pure creator, he terrorised Huddersfield Town’s defence in the Addicks‘ 4-0 home win.
Neither assist truly represented his creative side, with winger Tyreece Campbell doing most of the work to score from Berry’s simple passes.
However, he did create five chances in the game, as most of Charlton’s attacks went through Berry.
The 32-year-old also went close with a decent free kick that was saved early on in the second half.
Tyreece Campbell (Charlton Athletic)
Unsurprising for a team who scored four and won convincingly, Campbell is another Charlton player who makes this team.
The next one up in a long list of players who have come through Charlton’s academy and played at a high level, it would be surprising if the 21-year-old didn’t go onto bigger things.
For both goals, he received the ball out wide on the left-hand side and finished beautifully into the far corner.
Every time he touched the ball, there was anticipation that something could happen, such is his quality.
Jayden Stockley (Port Vale)
Jayden Stockley is a proper lower-league target man and knows exactly where the goal is; arguably the perfect striker for manager Darren Moore.
Vale left it late to win away to their local rivals Crewe, with the former Preston North End striker scoring the only goal of the game in the 86th minute.
While the goal wasn’t the prettiest, coming via a powerful header from only six yards out, no one of a Port Vale persuasion will care as his goal will be remembered for years to come.
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