Coyle yesterday picked up the accolade ahead of Wolves' Mick McCarthy, Steve Coppell of tomorrow's opponents Reading, and Plymouth's Paul Sturrock, having taken 13 out of 15 points in September, and knocked Premier League Fulham out of the Carling Cup.

And while he recognises the accolade is one for the entire club, he acknowledged Anderson's role in the superb run of form.

The Scotland international, on loan from Sunderland, helped pick up seven of those points, before suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury against the Cottagers, ruling him out for the rest of the campaign.

Coyle has stressed he will monitor the 29-year-old's recovery, with a view to landing the former Aberdeen defender on a permanent basis, and he said of his award: "It's obviously a tremendous accolade, and I think it's all credit to the football club and everybody involved with it. It has been a collective effort.

"But we have a debt of gratitude to Russell Anderson, who played an enormous part in that, and I think if anyone's deserving of the award, it will be him.

"He came to the club and was fantastic for us, and our thoughts are with him. We wish him a speedy recovery."