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First Team News

Tom Barkhuizen Named Championship Player Of The Month

7 April 2017

First Team News

Tom Barkhuizen Named Championship Player Of The Month

7 April 2017

Preston North End's Tom Barkhuizen has been named as the Sky Bet Championship player of the month for March.

Barkhuizen became the second North End player to pick up the accolade in as many months after Aiden McGeady's award in February. 

After a handful of appearances off the bench, Barkhuizen made his first start for North End against Fulham at Craven Cottage and marked his full debut with his first PNE goal. 

The forward went on to score four more goals in his next three games with a late equaliser against Derby County the first, followed by a brace against Reading in the 3-0 win at Deepdale. Barkhuizen ended the month with a fifth North End goal in the Lancashire derby against Blackburn Rovers. 

The 23-year-old has scored a variety of goals this season and added to that to his tally in North End shirt on Tuesday night against Bristol City. One goal that stands out is his sweeping finish against Reading last month, which has been nominated for the Sky Bet goal of the month award. 

On the award, Barkhuizen said:  "You don't get too many months like that, it's not often that everything just seems to come together. I know that you have to enjoy it will you can because there will be times when it's not like that.

I couldn't be happier with how things have gone for me personally, obviously I would have preferred for us to pick up a few more points and be even closer to the top six but if someone had said to me you would score five goals in four games I would have bitten their hand off.

PNE boss Simon Grayson also praised his January signing, adding: "It's an unbelievable achievement really when you look at it, it was fantastic for Aiden McGeady to win it last month but then Tom has come into the team and hit the ground running as if he has been playing in the Championship for the last five years, he's done exceptionally well.

"To win this award ahead of some of the players in the Championship at the business end of the season where all of the key players have to be playing to the best of their ability, it speaks volumes of Tom and the team as well."

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