As the season’s run-in approaches, it can only mean one thing: with help from our readers, it’s time for FFT’s annual list of the finest stars outside the top flight
Without the fi nesse to sit deeper under Enzo Maresca, the Nigerian was given an advanced role and he’s excelled with his newfound freedom. As a tackling specialist, he’s also a monster in the press.
THEY SAID: “We always look for players to arrive in the penalty box, and I noticed in Wilfred the capacity to do that” – Maresca.
19. Wilfried Gnonto
Wilfried Gnonto of Leeds United (Image credit: Getty Images)
Gnonto refused to play back in August, only for four Everton offers to be rejected. Now the Italian is part of Leeds’ electric frontline, taking on defenders, attacking the box and finding the corners.
THEY SAID: “He was always the poster boy so it isn’t easy on the bench, but he’s fi rst to celebrate if we score” – boss Daniel Farke.
18. Ben Sheaf
Ben Sheaf of Coventry City (Image credit: Getty Images)
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Given more breathing space in a box-to-box role after Gus Hamer’s exit, the ex-Arsenal man is City’s most consistent player – and the one they miss most if absent.
DID YOU KNOW? Five of Sheaf’s immediate family members have got a professional background in either football or volleyball. Very active holidays, we imagine…
The fast, strong wide forward is horrible for defenders, especially in those ominous one-on-ones, and it’s not much easier for the goalkeepers: he sure knows how to curl a shot into the far corner.
THEY SAID: “He must improve his behaviour” – manager Enzo Maresca after Mavididi taunted Birmingham fans, having scored.
16. Joe Rodon
Joe Rodon of Leeds United (Image credit: Getty Images)
Leeds perhaps lack the same type of creativity in deep centre-midfield that Daniel Farke’s title-winning Norwich sides had, so defenders are crucial to ball-progression. Rodon’s pings to the flank are ideal, then – and he’s a warrior.
DID YOU KNOW? A huge tattoo of a Gladiator scene covers his back. Yes, Joe, we’re entertained.
15. Leif Davis
Leif Davis of Ipswich Town (Image credit: Getty Images)
Hardly a conventional left-back, the Geordie is given the licence to make the flank all his own, while still forming part of a four-man defence. Talk about lung-busting.
HIGHLIGHT Having set up two goals, he slotted an 89th-minute winner in March’s 3-2 victory at home to Bristol City, sparking utter bedlam at Portman Road.
14. Gabriel Sara
Gabriel Sara of Norwich City (Image credit: Getty Images)
No midfi elder in the Championship has fired more shots than Sara – and after August’s rocket against Southampton, who can blame him? In a deeper role, the brilliant Brazilian had nine goals and 11 assists by mid-March, not including the attacks he starts.
THEY SAID: “The full package” – City team-mate Kenny McLean.
13. Conor Chaplin
Conor Chaplin of Ipswich Town (Image credit: Getty Images)
Following a 26-goal promotion season, Chaplin is thriving as the striker who isn’t a striker – Ipswich’s main goal threat, yet operating behind George Hirst or Kieffer Moore. He creates, but he mainly gives keepers no respite.
DID YOU KNOW? He’s taken the league’s most shots inside the penalty box (71 by mid-March).
12. Callum O'Hare
Callum O'Hare of Coventry City (Image credit: Getty Images)
A game-changer, capable of bending reality to his will and making a match entirely his own, O'Hare's return to the Coventry side this term following a serious Boxing Day 2022 injury has been nothing short of mesmerising.
Floppy-haired, socks rolled right down and calves on display, he carries visual echoes of another Aston Villa youth star with Irish ancestry and hypnotic dribbling, though comparing him to Jack Grealish would only serve to spoil the individuality of their talents. After five seasons with Mark Robins’ Coventry, O’Hare is likely to leave on a free this summer. Gentlemen, start your engines.
11. Ethan Ampadu
Ethan Ampadu of Leeds United (Image credit: Getty Images)
Club: Leeds United Position: Defender/Midfielder Age: 23
After four loans of varying turbulence in Germany, England and Italy, the dynamic Welshman instantly looked at home with his permanent switch to Leeds. He has been exceptional, first in midfi eld and then in defence.
DID YOU KNOW? He played 89 or more minutes in 42 of Leeds’ opening 43 games. Undroppable.
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Chris joined FourFourTwo in 2015 and has reported from more than 20 countries, in places as varied as Ivory Coast and the Arctic Circle. He's interviewed Pele, Zlatan and Santa Claus (it's a long story), as well as covering the World Cup, AFCON and the Clasico. He previously spent 10 years as a newspaper journalist, and completed the 92 in 2017.
