As the Championship title race starts to heat up and teams start to look beyond the festive period, it's time to take stock and think about who's stood out in 2017. While there's still plenty of football left to be played this season, we think we've found five players that have not only shone up until now, but will continue to shine as the pressure builds in 2018.
John Ruddy
With ten clean sheets in 20 league games this season, it's hard to not say John Ruddy is one of the shining lights in the Championship so far. After being released from Norwich City, it looked as though the once highly touted keeper was in danger of slipping in obscurity. However, since joining Wolves on a two-year deal in the summer, he's shown the skills that made Everton sign him from Cambridge United 12 years ago.
At 31, Ruddy seems to have matured as a keeper and in Wolves' recent game against Birmingham City he was commanding in the box. Plucking crosses out of the air like a salmon leaping from a mountain stream, it was his presence that earned the midlands side another three points. With that, Wolves moved four points clear of Cardiff after 20 games thanks, in part, to Ruddy conceding just 17 goals.
Aden Flint
Goals seem to be in abundance at Bristol City so far this season and the trend for finding the back of the net seems to have filtered through to the defensive line and Aden Flint. As well as doing his duties as a centre-back, the 28-year-old has etched his name on the score sheet five times in 16 league appearances. Although he might not be the first choice for those surveying the latest first goal scorer betting odds, Flint's goals have been valuable for Bristol.
In fact, his three goals in September not only earned his team points against Reading, Wolves and Bolton, they netted him the Player of the Month award. Naturally, those sorts of performances haven't gone unnoticed and Flint is now courting attention from a plethora of clubs, including Birmingham City.
Willy Boly
If there's a better rated player in the Championship this season, we're yet to see him. Frenchman Wily Boly has been hitting the target in every way possible this season according to the numbers. In 11 appearances, he's scored twice, got an 80.5% pass success score, won man of the match for Wolves four times and averaged 2.8 interceptions per game. When you put all of that together, the 26-year-old has notched up a rating of 7.82, which is better than anyone else in the league.
Of course, stats don't tell the whole story, but there's no doubt Boly is on form heading into the Christmas period. Can sustain it as the title race hots up? Only time will tell. However, with his teammates playing well and his own form in little doubt, he looks a good bet to remain as one of the top midfielders on display in 2017/2018.
Liam Bridcutt
When Leeds let him go, Bridcutt admitted that it was a surprise. However, far from getting down about it and sulking on the subs' bench, the defensive midfielder has made his mark at Nottingham Forest. On a purely statistical level, Bridcutt has stood out this season thanks to his passing percentage. According to WhoScored.com, he's currently averaging the most passes-per-game in the Championship. On top of this, he's having success with 86.6% of those passes and has set-up two goals in 15 games. For any midfielder, that's impressive.
Beyond his stats, Bridcutt is aware that he still has a lot to learn as a player. Despite being 28 and acknowledging that he's worked under some top managers, he isn't afraid to admit that he remains a student of the game. Talking to the Nottingham Post about his place in the team, he explained that he's a mentor to the younger players and that, in turn, is helping him learn more about his own game. It seems this attitude is helping him bounce back after being dropped by Leeds.
Leon Clarke
It's easy to name the league's top goal scorer in any rundown of the best players, but Clarke has played fantastically well in recent weeks. OK, so he didn't set the Championship alight at the start of the season with just four goals, but something seemed to click in November as he netted nine in four games. By far the most impressive outing for the Sheffield United striker was his four goals against Hull. He followed that with a hat-trick at Fulham two weeks later and now sits atop of the hot shots chart.
At 32, Clarke doesn't have many years left in the game. However, if his last few performances are anything to go by, he certainly has enough miles left on the clock to see out this season in style. Sure, the brakes could come off and he might crash and burn in January. However, for now at least, he's on fire and more than worthy of a place in our top five Championship players.
Author bio
Daniel Smyth is a sports and betting writer with almost a decade's worth of experience covering everything from poker and casino games to football, boxing and MMA.
