SPFL Team of the Week

Craig Fowler selects his latest SPFL Team of the Week in a 5-3-1-1 formation, with Lee Erwin the lone striker and Virgil van Dijk the star man.

Goalkeeper - Ryan Esson (Inverness CT)
Controversy right from the start! Everyone saw Scott Brown's performance in Aberdeen's 1-0 loss to Celtic in front of the Sky Sports cameras. He made a number of good stops and in most weeks he would be first choice in this team. On this occasion he is not. Ryan Esson made a number of solid stops in Inverness CT's 1-0 win at Dundee, while also having the distinction of making a truly top-class save to keep his clean sheet intact. There is absolutely no doubt the keeper should have been beaten by James McPake's late header. The defender did everything right - driving his effort back down to earth from little over six yards out. Not only did Esson get down in time, he kept a strong wrist to push all of the power out of the ball, thus securing Inverness' Europe-clinching victory.

Right-back - Richard Foster (Rangers)
A few eyebrows were raised when Rangers began with a 3-5-2 formation and yet Darren McGregor and Lee Wallace were not the two players stationed at the wing-back positions. Stuart McCall, perhaps wary of a Queen of the South attack that had previously scored eight league goals against Rangers this season, opted for a more pragmatic approach with Stevie Smith on the left and Foster on the right. The former broke the deadlock with a terrific free-kick, while Foster added the necessary steel on the other side. Queens still got themselves on the scoresheet, but they never threatened anywhere near as much from open play compared to the previous four encounters.

Central defender - Ben Gordon (Alloa Athletic)
Two excellent performances from the Wasps centre-back helped lift his side into the Championship play-off final. He was imperious in the first leg where Alloa built up the 2-0 lead that would ultimately prove vital to their qualification. For large spells of the return game at the Indodrill Stadium, Alloa were camped in their own area as wave after wave of Brechin attack battered the home defence. Keeper John Gibson made some excellent stops, and Brechin did come close on a number of occasions, but few of those chances could be considered clean strikes on goal. That was due to the play of Gordon and the rest of the Alloa defence. Considering what they were having to deal with, the unit can be very proud to only concede once, thus helping the rest of the team over the line.

Central defender - Jason Denayer (Celtic)
One half of the best central defensive performance by a two-man partnership this season. Denayer was the lesser of the two on Sunday, though that's hardly an insult (more on his team-mate in a second). Not only did he help Celtic deal with a steady stream of Aberdeen crosses into the penalty area, his pace helped sweep up any attacks in behind and prevent the dynamic Aberdeen front four from exploiting the hosts on the counter-attack.

Central defender - Virgil van Dijk (Celtic)
Wow. It was the kind of display that launches an attack on one's vocabulary. What words could describe such a performance? Scottish football has seen van Dijk dominate for the past two years and that might just have been his best showing yet. The best thing about it is how nonchalant he looks doing it. He grace is unmatched by any central defender in the country. He cleared every ball, made vital interceptions and executed some key recovery tackles. All of which while looking like he wouldn't break sweat. He's this week's star man.

Left-back - Stevie Hammell (Motherwell)
If the unthinkable happens and the Steelmen drop out of the Premiership, fans will curse the football gods for injury robbing them of their veteran defender for much of this season. Hammell doesn't even have to play well to improve Motherwell. His presence has a calming influence on those around him and he doesn't get flustered, even when things seem to be going against him. Twice in the first 10 minutes against Kilmarnock he was beaten for pace by Josh Magennis. His answer, later in the match, was to stand up to the athletic Killie attacker once more, execute a perfect standing tackle and launch the counter-attack that would lead to Motherwell's second goal. From then on, there were no problems and he helped his team-mates hang on for a crucial three points.

Central midfielder - Kieran Millar (Stenhousemuir)
Stenny are another side who have endured a difficult campaign and, just like Motherwell, they may find a saving grace in the form of the play-offs. Considering their poor form going into the double header with East Fife, coupled with the Fifers' improvement in recent weeks, there weren't many willing to back Brown Ferguson's side to advance to the final. While it took 120 minutes in the decisive second leg, they got there in the end with a 3-1 home win and 4-2 aggregate victory. Millar was the best player on the park in the second match. He rose to the occasion by constantly moving in the midfield area, harassing opponents on the ball and making a number of timely interceptions. He also helped himself to an early goal.

Central midfielder - Andy Murdoch (Rangers)
By design, Rangers' 2-1 win over Queen of the South was a scrappy affair as the visitors looked to stop their hosts from playing. In such matches, a team needs its central midfielders to do two things - be composed in possession as they look to manoeuvre out of tight areas, and be ready to battle against equally fired-up opponents. Murdoch did both those things excellently, though it is hardly surprising. Ever since he came into the team he's shown the kind of consistency Rangers have badly lacked throughout this season.

Central midfielder - Scott Brown (Celtic)
It says a lot for Brown's display that he managed to win the Man of the Match award in a game where his central defenders were so dominant. Scoring the winner probably had a lot to do with that. It was a terrific goal from Celtic's point of view and it was tremendous to see a player gaining possession for his team with a strong, hard challenge at one end, before sprinting 60-odd yards and finishing the move at the other. Apart from that moment of brilliance he was the usual Scott Brown - setting the tempo for the champions in another victory.

Attacking midfielder - Gavin Swankie (Forfar Athletic)
Swankie's penalty in the second leg of the Championship play-off semi-final killed any notion of Stranraer overhauling a 3-0 aggregate deficit and ensured it would be the Loons squaring off against Alloa in the final. However, it was his performance in the opening match which stood out more. Having missed out on the League 1 title with two losses in their final three games, Forfar needed some of the more influential players to step up and Swankie certainly rose to the occasion. Full of running, with and without the ball, he was a terror for the Stranraer defence. When he slotted home in the 87th minute to make the score 2-0 he paved the way for Forfar to get another goal, effectively killing the tie there and then.

Centre-forward - Lee Erwin (Motherwell)
Make no mistake, Erwin is an exciting young prospect. Admittedly, along with his team, he's not had the best of seasons as a regular in the Fir Park first team. His goals-to-games ratio could certainly be better. However, when he's on his game, he's borderline unstoppable. He just has everything in his locker. He's big, strong, fast, can shoot and dribble, wants to take the ball and run at players. In the first half on Friday, Kilmarnock simply had no answer to him. He netted one and, essentially, assisted another when his stinging strike could only be palmed into the path of Scott McDonald. With Erwin's confidence rising, and the team improving as a whole, you would be daft to bet against them clinching their survival, even if they do fall into the play-offs.