Despite multiple postponements late in the month, League One showed no sign of slowing down in December.
Lots has been said about just how exciting the division is this term and it certainly lived up to the billing last month.
Six of the standout performers have been named on the shortlist for the FLW Fans’ League One Player of the Month award.
The voting is now open and closes tomorrow at 9am, so we’ve broken down why each nominee deserves to win the award.
All stats courtesy of Whoscored.
The Defenders
Nominee: Ross Sykes
Only Sunderland took more points last month than Accrington Stanley, who had endured a difficult November but found their feet again to finish 2021 in style.
As he has been all season, centre-back Ross Sykes was central to their success – dominating defensively as he helped Accrington keep three clean sheets and adding an assist as well.
The Midfielders
Nominee: Dan Barlaser, Panutche Camará, Alex Pritchard
Dan Barlaser has been one of League One’s standout players this season and he was at his sparkling best in December, helping Rotherham to finish 2021 in the automatic promotion places.
The midfielder pulled the strings for the Millers, providing 14 key passes, but also added goals to his game – scoring four times in four games.
December was a month of change at Plymouth Argyle, with Steven Schumacher replacing the departing Ryan Lowe, but ever-present midfielder Panutche Camará continued to impress.
The 24-year-old’s contributions out of possession are vital to what Argyle do but he flexed his attacking muscles last month, adding a goal and two assists to help his side take seven points from a possible 12.
Sunderland were near-unstoppable in the final month of 2021, going unbeaten as they took 14 points from six games to finish the year top of League One, and summer signing Alex Pritchard certainly caught the eye.
The attacking midfielder looked back to his best as he pulled apart opposition defences, bagging a goal and three assists.
The Forwards
Nominee: Matty Taylor, Daniel Udoh
Matty Taylor was in hot form in December, scoring four times to push his League One tally for 2021/22 into double figures and help Oxford United strengthen their promotion credentials with 10 points from five games.
A constant nuisance for opposition defenders, the experienced forward proved he is more than just a goal threat and made six key passes.
Shrewsbury Town’s impressive turnaround continued last month and that was thanks in no small part to the contributions of Daniel Udoh.
The 25-year-old proved himself a matchwinner on multiple occasions as he showed his quality as both a goalscorer and a creator, scoring three times and adding two assists.