Gilbey wins Player of the Month award

The midfielder was in superb form last month, playing all but the final five minutes of the 3-1 win over Portsmouth. He netted three goals, including a fine solo effort against Gillingham and a brilliant lob in the Portsmouth game, and was the driving force in Dons' midfield as they closed the gap to League One safety.

He beats AFC Wimbledon’s Marcus Forss, Sean McConville of Accrington Stanley and Gillingham full-back Connor Ogilvie to the award.

Manager Russell Martin said: “I’m absolutely delighted for Alex and I’m delighted for us because he’s been excellent.

“He’s given us a massive improvement in terms of end product, we all know he’s capable of it, but he’s starting to show it.

“It’s down to the application he’s giving us in both training and matches – he’s been excellent since we took over. He’s taken every bit of information on, some of his goals have been outstanding, but his general play has been outstanding too.

“I’m really pleased for him and the team, because it’s a team effort. The team have to function properly and everyone has to do their jobs, which is why we had a picture together, that shows what we’re trying to build here and Alex is the first person who will thank his team mates for helping him get the award.”

Gilbey said: “ I’m over the moon to win the award and it’s a really proud moment for me, I’m chuffed – now it’s looking to build upon this and go again for the rest of the season.

“I’m thankful to the rest of the team as well, we’ve been really good of late and in December we were very good. It’s time to build upon it now, win more games and climb the table.”

Gilbey joins Carl Baker, Dele Alli, Dean Bowditch, Patrick Bamford and Dean Lewington as Dons players to have picked up the prize.