Ipswich Town v Leeds United: McCarthy has nothing but praise for Monk

Monk and McCarthy will lock horns at Portman Road in the Championship clash in Ipswich in which fifth-placed Leeds could move fourth with a victory.

United are now odds-on to finish in the play-offs, despite a miserable start to the season which yielded just four points from the club’s opening six games. But nearly nine months after his appointment in June, former Swansea City boss Monk is now working wonders at Leeds and the 37-year-old’s efforts have not gone unnoticed by McCarthy.

Asked about the job Monk had performed at Leeds, McCarthy declared: “Brilliant.

“Considering the start he had, and of course, he was predicted to be the next one out. He is arguably a contender for manager of the season in our league.

“There is a few of them mind, Paul Heckingbottom at Barnsley and David Wagner at Huddersfield stand out for me, as does Garry Monk.

“Leeds is a fantastic club and they have sort of struggled along, I don’t know how many managers they have had, and there are no stories coming out of the club any more.

“It’s all settled down, it’s calm, it appears to be, and that’s down to Garry.

“He gets the best out of his players and his team are playing very, very well.”