Alan Judge believes Brentford midfield partner Alex Pritchard is worthy of his place amongst the Championship's best players.

The division's managers placed the Tottenham loanee in eighth place in the division, with Middlesbrough's Patrick Bamford, on loan from Chelsea, voted as the best in the league.

And Judge believes the England U21 international, who has scored 11 goals in 43 games, will be fighting for a spot in Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs side next season.

The Irishman said: “He's one of the best players in the league. Since Christmas he's been the best player at the club and, in my eyes, he'll be a Premier League players next year.”

Judge has a better view than anyone as to what Pritchard can do; playing alongside him in midfield and he believes they compliment each other well.

He added: “I think we play quite well together. We popped up in a few areas together against Bolton.

“When he gets the ball he's so quick. His feet are so quick, he can go past players with no problem.

“He can get out of tight areas. You can give him the ball in tight areas when someone is up his backside and he can get away from them.”

Team effort: Alex Pritchard (R) celebrates with team mates after scoring the second goal for Brentford

Manager Mark Warburton was also delighted with Pritchard's impact and believes he fully deserves his spot in the top 10, but insisted it was a team effort that led to his individual glory.

He said: "All awards are team awards. It's a great recognition for him and he's done outstandingly well but he'd be the first to say say any award is a team award. All the boys are around him put him in that position for this type of award."

Ipswich striker Daryl Murphy was second in the poll, with Troy Deeney of Watford in third.

Callum Wilson, Matt Ritchie, Harry Arter (all Bournemouth), Chris Martin (Derby), Grant Leadbitter and Lee Tomlin (both Middlesbrough) were the others in the top 10.