Despite there being no Championship due to the international break, the EFL still had plenty of action in League One and League Two, and here are the players that stood out and have earned themselves a space in our team of the week.
GK – Harvey Davies – Crawley Town
Kicking things off with the goalkeeper position, Crawley Town’s Harvey Davies kept his first clean sheet in League Two this campaign since joining on loan from Liverpool’s academy, in what is his second spell in League Two, following a loan spell with Crewe Alexandra. Davies picked up an 8.5 match rating in their 1-0 victory over Harrogate Town, making six saves throughout the 90 minutes.
His standout saves included solid save off-the-back of a rebounded shot off the post, which he followed up with a few simpler opportunities, preventing a total of 0.8 xG, keeping one of the few clean sheets in what ended up as a high scoring game week.
LB – Max Conway – Bolton Wanderers
Conway continued his impressive League One form following his return from Crewe Alexandra on loan, picking up the assist for the third Bolton goal, against ten-man (eventually 9 man) AFC Wimbledon in their 3-0 victory. Conway’s match rating according to Fotmob was 8.5, narrowly missing out on his second consecutive man of the match award, as teammate Teddy Sharman-Lowe slightly pipped him with another 8.5.
He didn’t have very much to do on the defensive side, but excelled going forwards, with his assist coming in the 62nd minute, which to be quite honest, I’m unsure if it was an attempted shot or cross, but it found Adam Randall in the centre of the box nonetheless for him to fire past Nathan Bishop. With this, Conway more than earnt his place in the Lowe Tiers Team of the Week.
CB – Luke Garbutt – Salford City
Even though he’s ordinarily left-back, we had to find a way to include him for his top of the range performance against Tranmere Rovers, which saw him break the deadlock with a penalty, create three chances despite playing as a part of Salford’s back three, and finally make 11 defensive contributions. Not a bad day at the office.
The penalty came after Kallum Sesay drew a foul in from Tranmere’s captain Jordan Turnbull, pulling him to the ground from a shooting position, leading to Garbutt to send Luke McGee the wrong direction to begin a flurry of goals for both sides, also boosting his Fotmob match rating to an 8.5.
CB – Chris Forino – Bolton Wanderers
Bolton’s second defender to feature in this week’s Lower Tiers Team of the week, Chris Forino guided Wanderers to a clean sheet in what ultimately turned out to be a high scoring weekend in League One. Forino’s defensive work was incredibly solid, winning 11/12 of his duels attempted, chipping in two tackles, hardly giving The Wombles a sniff at goal.
Not only were his defensive contributions astounding, in front of goal he was narrowly denied glory, narrowly shooting wide from a freekick as well as hitting the post with a bullet header from yet another freekick, which rebounded for Mason Burstow to tap in from close range.
RB – Lasse Sorensen – Huddersfield Town
Although it wasn’t Huddersfield’s finest day at the back, Sorensen still influenced the game with a standout display in both aspects of his game, winning a whopping ten duels attempted throughout the 90 minutes, as well as picking up the assist for The Terriers opening goal in their high-scoring clash against Peterborough United, earning himself a respectable 8.1 Fotmob match rating.
His assist came in the 60th minute, picking up a long ball from the back, before skipping past defending full back Peter Kioso, finding Leicester loanee Will Alves unmarked to tap home from a couple of yards out. Sorensen’s attacking prowess earns a spot in our Team of the Week.
CM – Ashley Charles – Bromley FC
In the 5:30 clash between League Two’s Kent based sides, the game ended in controversy, but overlooking the main talking point, Ashley Charles was Bromley’s midfield maestro, pulling the strings throughout. The Grenadian international completed the most completed passes on the pitch with 34, as well as battling hard thanks to his physicality, winning an inspiring 14 duels, enhancing his match rating on Fotmob to an 8.1, but he wasn’t Bromley’s highest rated player, he’s still to come…
CM – Bradley Ibrahim – Plymouth Argyle
The first Plymouth Argyle player to make our Team of the week so far this season due to their rough start, Bradley Ibrahim cemented his place in this list with his stellar performance against Stockport County, which saw him rack up an 8.4 rating on Fotmob. His rating was helped thanks to his goal in the 48th minute, as well as making seven tackles throughout the 90 minutes.
Bagging Argyle’s third goal of the game, it came in style, shooting from outside the box with pinpoint accuracy to nail it into the bottom left corner of the goal (although Corey Addai in net could arguably have done a bit better to prevent it).
LW – Jordan Gibson – Doncaster Rovers
It always seems that Jordan Gibson turns up against Bradford fans, as they constantly give him stick whenever they play him, but clearly it had the opposite effect on Saturday, as he went on to score Donny’s second goal and setting up the opener for Luke Molyneux, collecting himself a tidy 8.5 Fotmob match rating.
The assist came in the 6th minute of this Yorkshire clash, teeing up fellow winger Molyneux with a precise cross straight onto his on-rushing head to slam it past Sam Walker, with the goal coming 16 minutes later, picking up a fumble from Bradford’s Joe Wright, taking the ball into a one-on-one scenario, firing past Walker once again.
RW – Luke Thomas – Bristol Rovers
In Bristol Rovers’ action packed tie against Newport County, Luke Thomas’s brace made the difference as they narrowly got the three points, after Newport attempted a miraculous comeback late on in the game. His quick double earned the winger an 8.9 rating on Fotmob, one of the highest this game week.
Thomas’s opening goal came in the 52nd minute of the game, when he pounced upon a spill from the Newport goalkeeper off-the-back of a scramble following a corner, taking a wicked deflection before squeaking past both defenders on the line, with his second coming just seven minutes later, after some sloppy playing out from the back from the Newport defence was capitalised on, with Thomas firing into a practically open net.
ST – James Collins – Lincoln City
Collins’ second feature in this season’s team of the week’s so far, his impeccable form in front of goal continued its hot streak, bagging his second brace of the season, this time against Wigan Athletic in their fiery 2-2 draw which saw two red cards. His brace inflated his Fotmob match rating to 8.4.
His first of the game wasn’t the most exciting goal, but an important one nonetheless, following Christian Saydee’s foul on Ryler Towler, beating the goalkeeper to equalise the scoreline, despite Sam Tickle guessing the correct direction to dive. His second was a classic poacher’s goal, picking up a loose ball following a short corner, just about scrambling past the keeper.
ST – Michael Cheek – Bromley
Bromley’s talisman in attack is the second man for “The Ravens” to feature in this week’s team of the week, continuing his star performances in front of goal in League Two for the new season, as he bagged yet another goal and assist, following his player of the year and golden boot successes last campaign. Not only did he contribute these, but he also completed the most dribbles of any player on the pitch, and had four shots, with one hitting the woodwork.
He teed up Nicke Kabamba in the 7th minute of the game with a header into the box off the back of Grant Smith’s goal kick forwards, before Nicke Kabamba rocketed the ball past Glenn Morris in the Gillingham goal, with his second coming just six minutes later, when he rose like a salmon to head into the bottom left corner from Idris Odutayo’s long ball forward.
