With the domestic football season nearing its end and with Rovers moving ever closer towards a return to the Championship at the first time of asking, the EFL have released their Sky Bet League 1 Team of the Season, which includes David Raya, Charlie Mulgrew and Bradley Dack. In addition to the Team of the Season, the nominees for the League 1 Player of the Season have also been released, which includes Dack as one of the three nominees.
With Rovers edging ever closer to finishing the season as the League 1 leaders, the brilliant performances that the players have contributed have deservedly been recognised by the EFL as Raya, Mulgrew and Dack have been awarded a place in the league’s Team of the Season, which can be seen below.
David Raya’s inclusion into the side comes off the back of 14 clean sheets in 39 games as the Spaniard’s solid performances throughout the season – alongside that of the defence in-front of him – have powered Rovers to the top of the division, despite their rocky start in August. Despite Raya not leading the league in clean sheets, as that accolade is currently held by Christian Walton of Wigan Athletic, the 22-year old has come on leaps and bounds since making his Rovers debut in 2015.
Rovers’ skipper, Charlie Mulgrew was a shoo-in to be part of the team, simply for his goal and assist return alone. The newly appointed Scottish captain has managed to notch up 12 goals and 4 assists from the centre-back position, with most of his contributions coming from set-pieces. Despite his eye for goal, the defender has managed to overcome some of the injury problems that stifled his performances last season and really kick on and begin to show his true ability, both going forwards and defensively.
The final addition into the Team of the Season, from Rovers’ perspective, is new fans’ favourite, Bradley Dack, who has been included into the team for the 2nd time in his career. The 24-year old, who made a £750,000 switch from Kent side, Gillingham, to Ewood Park in the summer has shown the quality and class that he possesses and so many Championship clubs were looking at prior to his switch up north. Despite his out of form start to the season, which saw him draw blanks until the end of September, ever since he netted the equaliser against Shrewsbury Town at New Meadow, Dack has kicked on and put his talent on display for all to see, after netting 16 goals with 8 assists in the league up to this point, despite there still being 7 games of the season left.
The praise for Dack however, does not stop there, as Rovers’ hitman has also been nominated for the Sky Bet League One Player of the Season, an award which he is no stranger to after picking up the award in 2016, following a similar return in goals and assists with Gillingham. The playmaker has stiff competition however as he rivals Wigan Athletic’s Nick Powell and Peterborough United’s Jack Marriott for the award.
Whilst that signals the end of Rovers’ individual awards, the club has been nominated for the 2018 Checkatrade Community Club of the Year Award as a result of being named the North Wests’ Community Club of the Year in March 2018. The Blues however, are up against the winners of the various regions around the country, which include Middlesbrough, Derby County, Charlton Athletic, Portsmouth and Bristol City, meaning that the competition for the award remains as strong as ever.
All will be revealed, in terms of victors, at the EFL Awards on Sunday 15th April, where all Rovers fans will be routing for Bradley Dack and the club to come away from the night with a clean sweep of the awards.
