Daniel Ballard has made it into the EFL’s League One Team of the Week for his performance against Sunderland over the weekend.

Blackpool's Daniel Ballard and John Akinde of Gillingham, Blackpool v Gillingham, EFL Sky Bet League One, Football, Bloomfield Road, Blackpool, UK - 5 Apr 2021. Copyright: Phil Oldham / BPI / Shutterstock
Blackpool’s Daniel Ballard and John Akinde of Gillingham, Blackpool v Gillingham, EFL Sky Bet League One, Football, Bloomfield Road, Blackpool, UK – 5 Apr 2021. Copyright: Phil Oldham / BPI / Shutterstock

The official League One Twitter account announced their latest Team of the Week on Monday morning, with Arsenal loanee Daniel Ballard featuring in the side for his performance with Blackpool against Sunderland.

Promotion play-off chasers Blackpool achieved victory at the weekend thanks to a clean sheet largely possible thanks to Ballard. He made nine clearances, blocked three shots, and cleared one off the line to secure the result.

The centre-back was strong in the individual duels, winning 10 of 15, and he earned three free-kicks versus the one foul he made.

Blackpool also nominated Ballard for their Man of the Match award, though a bug in the poll makes it unclear who actually won it. The fans in the replies were certainly very supportive of the Arsenal man though.

Ballard is now up to 22 appearances for Blackpool, despite joining late in the summer window and suffering a couple of injury and suspension setbacks, as well as missing some games for senior international duty.

They clearly rate Ballard highly, and he could have an exciting end to the season with the play-offs on the horizon.