Watkins up for for player-of-the-month award

Exeter City’s Ollie Watkins has been nominated for the League Two player-of-the-month award for December.

Ollie, who celebrated his 21st birthday on December 30, had a month to remember as he netted five goals in four games.

He started the month off with an impressive performance against Cheltenham Town where he helped set up City’s second goal in a 3-1 victory by crossing the ball in for David Wheeler to fire home from close range.

He then followed that up with a man-of-the-match display against Mansfield Town as he scored both goals as the Grecians recorded their first home league victory of the season.

A 0-0 draw at Yeovil Town followed on Boxing Day – in which Ollie came closest to breaking the deadlock for the Grecians with a shot that curled just over the crossbar from 25-yards out.

And five days later, Ollie was at the forefront of the action again as he scored his first hat-trick in senior football against Newport County to help the Grecians to a 4-1 win at Rodney Parade.

His goalscoring record in December is made all the more impressive by the fact that he has been playing in a slightly deeper role than normal and breaking forward from midfield to get on the scoresheet.

Ollie is up against three others players for the accolade. The first is Nicky Adams who helped set up four of Carlisle United’s seven goals during December.

Wycombe’s Scott Kashket has also been nominated having scored four times during December, while Oscar Threlkeld completes the list having netted twice for Argyle and also helped the Pilgrims to three clean sheets from four games.

All winners will be announced on Friday, January 6. The judging panel comprises Sky Sports’ EFL expert Don Goodman; League Managers’ Association director Olaf Dixon and Sky Bet Football trading manager Paul Lowery.