Andre wins Player of the Year award

Andre Gray has been named the Championship’s Player of the Year at the Football League Awards, as voted for by the league’s managers.

Gray, who moved to Turf Moor for a club record £6m last summer, beat former Brentford team-mate Alan Judge and Fulham‘s Ross McCormack to the coveted award, at a ceremony hosted in Manchester.

Upon receiving the trophy, Gray said: “I’m over the moon with it. To even get nominated was a massive honour for me, but to win it is even better.”

The 24-year-old striker has netted 24 goals in the league this season to spearhead the Clarets’ hopes of securing an immediate return to the Premier League.

The Burnley striker joins a long list of names who have seen their reputation grow under Sean Dyche, with Danny Ings winning the same award in 2014 and Charlie Austin scoring 41 goals in 82 appearances to become one of the league’s most prolific forwards.

“That was a big reason why I joined Burnley. You look at the likes of Charlie Austin and Danny Ings and what they’ve gone on to do. To see what Jamie Vardy has done is a massive inspiration and it shows that anything is possible,” said Gray who four years ago was playing for non-league club Hinckley United.

Elsewhere in the Championship: Middlesbrough defender George Friend collected the Player in the Community Award, Charlton Athletic’s Community programme was named the best of any Football League club, and Leeds United’s Lewis Cook was named Young Player of the Year.