Championship news: New Wigan boss reveals his plan plus good news for Middlesbrough duo

Good news for Middlesbrough duo

Michael Carrick and Chuba Akpom have been nominated for the Sky Bet Championship Manager and Player of the Month awards for November

A Boro statement read: “Head Coach Carrick has enjoyed a fine start to life as Boro boss, with three wins and a draw from his first five matches in charge.

“Handed a new role between the lines of midfield and attack, forward Akpom has excelled under Carrick, scoring the first goal of his tenure at Preston North End and adding three more in November as well as a fine assist to win the match late on at Norwich City.”

The Sky Bet Manager and Player of the Month judging panel includes ex Pools and Barnsley manager Danny Wilson, Sky Sports’ EFL expert Don Goodman, and Sky Bet EFL trader Ivor Davies.

Kolo Toure says he is relishing the “unbelievable challenge” he has taken on after being appointed as Wigan boss

The 41-year-old former Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool defender’s first managerial role sees him taking charge of a Latics outfit lying third-bottom of the Sky Bet Championship.

Wigan sacked Toure’s predecessor Leam Richardson, who had guided them to promotion from League One last term, in November following a run of six defeats in seven matches.

When it was put to Toure that he had gone in at the deep end, the Ivorian said: “It’s a great challenge, for me that’s perfect.

“These are great guys, I think Leam did a great job to bring them up and he made them work as hard as they could until now, and for us, with my staff, I will try to push them even more to get some results. I’m looking forward to the challenge, this is an unbelievable challenge.”

He added: “We want to make sure every fan of Wigan is proud of the team. Every game we play, we are going to play with heart. We will play with a lot of energy, working hard, and any team playing against that will have to work really hard to beat us. This is my philosophy, that’s the way I used to play as a player, and that will never change.”