THE two hottest strikers in the Championship will be looking to outgun each other at Portman Road on Sunday.Ipswich Town striker Alan Lee is officially the best player in the division, followed closely by James Scowcroft at Crystal Palace, according to the Actim Index.
By Derek Davis
THE two hottest strikers in the Championship will be looking to outgun each other at Portman Road on Sunday.
Ipswich Town striker Alan Lee is officially the best player in the division, followed closely by James Scowcroft at Crystal Palace, according to the Actim Index.
Lee tops the rankings with 73 points, three ahead of his nearest rival Scowcroft.
Although both players have three league goals Lee has edged ahead on his all-round performance for the team in games against Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth Argyle.
Scowcroft soared to the top of the table after the first week when he scored a hat-trick for the Eagles on the opening day against his old manager George Burley's Southampton.
Lee bagged a brace that day against Wednesday and then added to his tally with the opener inside two minutes at Plymouth in Town's 1-1 draw.
The Actim Index only takes into account league matches so Lee's goal against MK Dons does not come into the equation but the four goals makes him the country's top professional goal-scorer.
There are five Town players in the top 100 with Pablo Counago 25th overall and the 11th-ranked striker. Jason de Vos is in at 29th, followed by Owen Garvan (46) and Gary Roberts (55), on the list which is calculated using unique mathematical formula that rates each player's contribution.
They use goals, shots, passes, dribbles, tackles, crosses, saves, clearances, blocks, interceptions, assists, clean sheets, minutes on the pitch and points gained by the team, with marks deducted for red and yellow cards.
n The Blues have no fresh injuries ahead of the match although George O'Callaghan had his ribs examined after picking up a knock at Plymouth. He has been given the all-clear to play.
O'Callaghan is so desperate to play on Sunday he initially kept the injury to himself and went to accident and emergency but the club found out anyway when he missed an official function.
Palace will be without influential midfielder Kevin Watson after he damaged ankle ligaments.
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