League 2 Top Men: Deadly Daggers

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Once a week, TEAMtalk will select our premium XI from England’s fourth tier, explain our selections and then invite you – our loyal army of readers – to pick your team of top men. We’re looking for the players who caught your eye with dazzling displays or powerful performances in the fourth tier.

You can choose any formation and there’s no limit on how many players you can pick from each team – so have a think, then get involved.

League Two Top Men (4-3-3) : Rice; Jones, Ilesanmi, Davis, Darby; Fleming, Howell, Penn; Gayle; Akinfenwa, Wells.

Goalkeeper:

Martin Rice (Torquay United): The goalkeeper was making his Football League debut aged 26 and, in the absence of the Gulls’ first-choice stopper Michael Poke, celebrated with a clean sheet in the 0-0 draw against Oxford.

Defenders:

Billy Jones (Cheltenham): League Two’s joint leading assist maker causes problems with his set-piece deliveries – and it was his corner which led to the Robins’ winner against Burton. He also impressed at the other end as Cheltenham kept their fourth straight clean sheet.

Femi Ilesanmi (Dagenham & Redbridge): Marauding left-back Ilesanmi, provided two assists in Dagenham’s thumping home win against Rotherham. But the man-of-the-match didn’t forget his defensive responsibilities in the 5-0 win either – helping the Daggers keep only their third clean sheet of the season.

Joe Davis (Port Vale): The 19-year-old defender has only made 13 Football League appearances, but is producing some mature displays at the heart of the Vale defence. He helped the second-placed side blunt Southend’s attack in a 0-0 stalemate at Roots Hall.

Stephen Darby (Bradford City): Former Liverpool defender Darby has been an assured presence in the Bantams’ defence this season and was impressive when given his chance again in their 2-0 triumph at Aldershot.

Midfielders:

Andrew Fleming (Morecambe): Fleming was an instrumental figure as the Shrimps beat Barnet 4-1 to record their biggest home win of the season. The midfielder’s neat finish from a tight angle put them 2-0 ahead.

Luke Howell (Dagenham & Redbridge): The all-action midfielder bagged twice in his side’s 5-0 rout of Rotherham to take his goal tally to an impressive six for the season.

Russell Penn (Cheltenham): Another energetic display from the Robins midfielder helped the third-placed side earn a narrow 1-0 win over his former club Burton. Penn’s performance earned the plaudits – and man-of-the-match vote – from his boss Mark Yates.

Strikers:

Dwight Gayle (Dagenham & Redbridge): Former Arsenal trainee Gayle scored the opener to set the Daggers on the way to a 5-0 victory over Rotherham. And he crowned a five-star display by sweeping in the final goal of a comfortable afternoon.

Adebayo Akinfenwa (Northampton): Powerful striker Akinfenwa netted his first professional hat-trick to help the Cobblers to a 4-2 win at Accrington Stanley. He has scored 10 goals this season – with boss Aidy Boothroyd admitting he can play at a higher level.

Nahki Wells (Bradford City): The Bermudian continued his fine form to fire promotion-chasing Bradford to a 2-0 win at Aldershot. His first-half double, taking his tally to 12 for the season, moved the Bantams up to fourth.