Derby County midfielder Max Bird’s stunning long-range strike at Cheltenham Town has been named as the Sky Bet League One Goal of the Month for January 2023.
The 22-year-old let fly with a sensational effort from distance, which found the top corner, to put Derby 2-1 up at the Completely-Suzuki Stadium as Paul Warne’s side registered all three points with a 3-2 success in their first away fixture of the calendar year.
Academy graduate Bird, who is Derby’s vice-captain and has worn the armband for large parts of the season, has made 37 appearances in all competitions this term and found the back of the net on two occasions.
Bird saw off competition from Will Vaulks of Sheffield Wednesday, James Norwood of Barnsley and Bolton Wanderers’ Aaron Morley to receive the award.
Derby supporters were invited to vote for Bird’s goal on EFL.com from a four-player shortlist and the supporters' votes were combined with the choices from a panel to determine the winners. The judging panel comprises of Sky Sports’ EFL experts Don Goodman and David Prutton.
“I’m happy to win the award and it is a nice personal touch,” Bird said.
“The gaffer has been trying to get me to shoot a bit more and I’ve been practising in training.
“I know I need to get more goals and add them to my game and hopefully more will come for me.”
He added: “It was funny because in the lead-up to the Cheltenham game in training I was blazing efforts over the bar and wide of goal.
“In the game, the ball sat up nicely and I just focussed on hitting it well and not too hard. It was a nice feeling to see it fly in the top corner and, as you will have seen from my celebration, I didn’t know how to react!”
Lead Sky Bet EFL Goal of the Month judge and Sky Sports Pundit Don Goodman said: “At first glance, this goal appears to be a run-of-the-mill 30-yard screamer, but when you watch it back a few times, you begin to appreciate the incredible skill that Bird uses to cut across the ball and swerve it away from the keeper and into the top corner.
“In a month of particularly strong candidates in League One, it’s this more than anything which sets Bird’s goal apart. Incredible.”
