Fans sometimes have a difficult decision to make selecting Albion's player of the season.

There are normally a few contenders, with one a bit ahead of the rest.

Not this year. There can only be a one winner.

Choosing Lewis Dunk is a no-brainer.

The 23-year-old centre-half has done a superb job succeeding last year's winner Matt Upson, who polled 63 per cent of the votes before a final crack at the Premier League with Leicester.

Dunk's efforts in both boxes and an absence of meaningful opposition should ensure an overwhelming percentage of the poll.

He has started many more matches than any of his team-mates, 38 in total in all competitions.

He has performed consistently alongside skipper Gordon Greer, so much so that Upson's experienced replacement Aaron Hughes has hardly had a look-in.

Goal-costing errors or lapses of concentration inside his own penalty area have been rare from Dunk.

The bonus has been seven goals utilising his aerial strength at set pieces to top the scoring charts.

They have been especially valuable in a season when the strikers have struggled to score.

Dunk earned draws against Charlton, Watford and Huddersfield.

He also helped Albion to lucrative cup runs, ending against Spurs and Arsenal, with goals against Cheltenham and Brentford.

The only blemish has been eight bookings by the end of January, although that is more understandable than most in the position he plays.

He had stayed yellow card-free until at Reading on Tuesday and is now in danger of a two-match suspension for accumulating ten cautions by next month's cut-off.

Promising, left-footed defenders are hard to find, so it is no surprise that West Ham and West Brom have been linked with Dunk this season.

He signed a new four-year contract last summer. You would like to think he will stay and be somebody Chris Hughton can build Albion's future around, rather than becoming a Premier League squad member next season, watching more than he is playing.

It was different for Upson, reaching the end of his career. Dunk still has time on his side.