Albion boss Gus Poyet and winger Will Buckley have been nominated for Championship manager and player of the month awards respectively.

Poyet is up against Chris Hughton (Birmingham) and Malky Mackay (Cardiff).

Birmingham’s Curtis Davies and Cardiff’s Peter Whittingham are in contention for the player award.

Buckley's attacking work helped the Seagulls remain unbeaten in January, taking 13 points from a possible 15 and beating Newcastle in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Cardiff reached the Carling Cup final in recent weeks but were beaten at home by Blackpool in the Championship last Saturday.

Meanwhile Birmingham have charged into the thick of the automatic promotion race and, like Albion, are through to the fifth round of the FA Cup.