Omari Kellyman – Cardiff City

Omari Kellyman featured in all but one of Cardiff’s seven League One fixtures during January, making five starts. The Bluebirds went undefeated throughout the month to maintain a two-point lead at the top of the table.

They remain the pacesetters in League One with some dominant performances, Kellyman a regular in the No.10 role for the Welsh side. However, his most impressive performance of the month came when filling in as the team’s striker, as they made it eight games without a loss by beating Barnsley 4-0 at home.

It was the 20-year-old’s sweeping cross-field pass which opened up Barnsley for Cardiff’s early opener, before setting up their second goal following a strong run forward on the ball. Omari then calmly slotted in the third goal himself, as Cardiff matched their biggest win of the season.

Jimmy-Jay Morgan – Peterborough United

Jimmy-Jay Morgan marked his return from injury by scoring the opening goal in a 3-1 win for Peterborough over Bolton Wanderers. Having missed their first two games of January, the forward returned to the line-up in a deep role supporting the main striker, and combined with his strike partner to find the net.

A long kick from the keeper was flicked on into Morgan’s path, and the Chelsea loanee made no mistake as he finished into the bottom corner to set the Posh on their way to victory.

They remain seven points clear of the League One relegation zone despite a tough end to the month. Morgan came off the bench to help spark an impressive fight-back to level the scores with Huddersfield Town after trailing 2-0, only to concede in the 90th minute to lose 3-2.

Aaron Anselmino, David Fofana, Kendry Paez, Mike Penders, Mamadou Sarr – Strasbourg

Mike Penders played every minute of Strasbourg’s five games during January as they continued their push in league and cup. His one clean sheet came in a 6-0 thrashing of Avranches to book their place in the last 16 of the Coupe de France.

In Ligue 1, a draw at Nice was followed by back-to-back wins, 2-1 over Metz and 4-1 against Lille, before a narrow 2-1 defeat to top-of-the-table Paris Saint-Germain. That was their first league defeat for nearly two months, as they remain within one point of the European places.

Mamadou Sarr joined Penders in the line-up for the last of those two games, against Lille and PSG, after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations with a winner's medal. Sarr captained Strasbourg in his final appearances before returning to Chelsea.

Kendry Paez also came off the bench against Nice and Metz, before completing his loan switch to River Plate.

Aaron Anselmino and David Fofana are yet to make their debut for Strasbourg after joining late in the winter transfer window.

Nicolas Jackson – Bayern Munich

After also helping Senegal triumph at AFCON, Jackson returned from international duty to appear as a substitute for top-of-the-table Bayern Munich as they suffered a rare home defeat in the Bundesliga, going down 2-1 to Augsburg.

The striker then played the first hour in the UEFA Champions League, as the German side ended their league-phase campaign with a 2-1 win over PSV Eindhoven, having already been assured of a place in the last 16 going into the game.

Ted Curd – Boreham Wood

After being eliminated from the FA Cup in the third round by League One Burton Albion, Curd kept a clean sheet for Boreham Wood as they beat Braintree Town 3-0 to make it six wins in a row in the National League. However, he was unable to prevent back-to-back defeats in their next two games, as they fell away in the automatic promotion chase.

Ishe Samuels-Smith – Swansea City

The defender’s only appearance in January came away at Millwall in the Championship early in the month, as Swansea suffered a 2-1 defeat after conceding an injury-time winner. Samuels-Smith featured for the first hour at left-back before being withdrawn. He was then sidelined by a groin injury, but returned as an unused substitute for Saturday’s 2-1 win at Watford.