Rotherham United midfielder Dan Barlaser has been named the Sky Bet League One Player of the Month for December.
Much of Rotherham’s success this season has been orchestrated by the quarter-back play of Barlaser, spinning searching passes to teammates. The technician added goals in December, four of them expertly finished in as many games.
Barlaser said: “I’m absolutely delighted, I’ve never won an award like this before. Of course, I have to thank my teammates, we have been on a great run of form together and I’ve managed to contribute to that.
“You don’t win any individual awards without the efforts of everyone involved, the lads, the manager and the rest of the staff have all contributed massively and I can’t thank them enough.
“For example, a couple of the goals I scored were penalties won by teammates and another was a lung-busting run from Chieo (Ogbene) to get the ball to me, so I’m extremely grateful to everyone.
“The lads as a collective have been brilliant, so credit must go to them as well.”
Sky Sports’ EFL pundit Don Goodman said: “The former Newcastle-trainee has been a mainstay of Paul Warne’s promotion chasing team this season, but only recently has he added goals to his impressive display.
“None of these were more important than the winner against Cambridge in the build-up to Christmas which cemented their place on top of the tree when Father Christmas arrived.”
Sky Bet EFL trader Ivor Davies said: “Dan Barlaser was once again in outstanding form for Rotherham during December as The Geordie Pirlo scored four goals in five games to help his team consolidate their position at the top of Sky Bet League One.
“The Millers are now odds on with Sky Bet at 10/11 from 11/10 at the start of the month to finish the season as Champions.
“Players like Barlaser, Smith, Rathbone and Wiles are all too good for this level and we believe its highly likely that at 1/5 they will all be back playing Championship football again next season.”
