Best Defensive players by Season Rating in Championship

The best defensive players in Championship, ranked on Field Insider.

Best defensive goalkeepers in Championship Best defensive defenders in Championship Best defensive midfielders in Championship Best defensive attackers in Championship Best players in Championship Most in-form players in Championship

At a glance

H. Hackney of Middlesbrough is the standout for raw talent across players in Championship, with a Field Insider Rating of 79, and O. McBurnie has been the form player this season, grading 64.6, and Z. Vipotnik leads the scoring with 23 goals.

The numbers a scout watches are the year-on-year jumps: H. Amass has improved his Season rating most, up +43.4 on last season, while R. Vítek's scouting Rating has risen fastest, +43.3 over the same span. Those are the players whose trajectory is bending upward fastest.

By our market-value index, Z. Vipotnik of Swansea is the most valuable name in this group at 48.3.

Bristol City · 23/24→25/26

Most improved

H. Amass+43.4SsN

Sheffield Wednesday · 24/25→25/26

50 players · ranked by best defendersCustomise →

	Player	Team
1	T. Crama Centre-back	Millwall	24	62.2	62192%	7769.8%
2	M. van Ewijk Full-back	Coventry	25	58.6	5935.6%	771.7%
3	J. Dasilva Full-back	Coventry	28	53.3	53122.1%	571.7%
4	J. Cooper Centre-back	Millwall	31	52.7	5345.6%	429.4%
5	J. Ngakia Central midfielder	Watford	25	51.8	5268.7%	665.4%
6	M. Targett Defensive midfielder	Middlesbrough	30	47.3	4723550%	452.6%
7	M. Clarke Centre-back	Derby	29	47.3	4753.6%	513%
8	D. O'Shea Centre-back	Ipswich	27	47.2	4776.1%	6321.1%
9	C. Styles Full-back	West Brom	26	46.6	4735.5%	617.1%
10	E. Cashin Full-back	Blackburn	24	46.1	4669.5%	656%
11	D. Furlong Full-back	Ipswich	30	46.1	4620.4%	4615.5%
12	L. Ayling Full-back	Middlesbrough	34	45.5	4671.1%	285.7%
13	S. McLoughlin Centre-back	Blackburn	29	45.5	46129.8%	4711.8%
14	L. Kitching Centre-back	Coventry	26	45	4573.7%	660.6%
15	L. Jones Centre-back	Charlton	30	44.8	4521.1%	4314.8%
16	L. Miller Full-back	Blackburn	25	44.6	4584.3%	6434.2%
17	N. Phillips Centre-back	West Brom	29	44.5	4591%	4513%
18	C. Hughes Full-back	Hull City	22	44.1	44150.6%	719.7%
19	R. Alebiosu Central midfielder	Blackburn	24	43.9	44619.7%	7065.6%
20	I. Kaboré Defensive midfielder	Wrexham	25	42.9	43709.4%	697.6%
21	C. Taylor Centre-back	Millwall	23	42	4250.5%	7050.9%
22	B. Cabango Centre-back	Swansea	26	41.8	4212.6%	668.3%
23	B. Thomas Centre-back	Coventry	25	41.7	4213.6%	715.2%
24	J. Tchamadeu Full-back	Stoke City	22	41.6	4226.8%	711.3%
25	G. Tanner Centre-back	Bristol City	26	41.4	4197.1%	597.8%
26	J. Egan Centre-back	Hull City	33	41.4	41989.5%	2815.8%
27	J. Tanganga Centre-back	Sheffield Utd	27	41.2	4111.6%	5914.1%
28	K. Ramsay Centre-back	Charlton	25	40.4	4016.2%	6532.7%
29	L. Davis Full-back	Ipswich	26	40	40161.4%	6814.9%
30	A. Malanda Centre-back	Middlesbrough	24	39.5	401.7%	7454%
31	R. Atkinson Centre-back	Bristol City	28	39.4	39556.7%	52±0%
32	R. Dickie Centre-back	Bristol City	30	39.3	3959.8%	4120.7%
33	C. Burgess Centre-back	Swansea	30	39.3	39346.6%	4516.9%
34	A. Jones Centre-back	Middlesbrough	28	39.3	3987.1%	5310.3%
35	Neto Borges Centre-back	Bristol City	29	38.2	3815.8%	4420.7%
36	M. Cleworth Full-back	Wrexham	23	37.9	3840.7%	7328.6%
37	G. Campbell Full-back	West Brom	25	37.2	3735.8%	6652.6%
38	Ricardo Pereira Full-back	Leicester	32	36.5	37812.5%	309.8%
39	C. Kipré Centre-back	Ipswich	29	36.4	3610.6%	4623%
40	Zak Norton Sturge Full-back	Millwall	22	36.3	36855.3%	7016.9%
41	S. Langås Centre-back	Derby	25	36.1	3628.9%	6946.5%
42	R. Poole Centre-back	Portsmouth	28	36.1	3647.3%	526.5%
43	A. Ahmed Attacking midfielder	Norwich	25	35.8	36123.7%	6973.4%
44	M. Helik Centre-back	Oxford United	30	35.6	3671.2%	4110.3%
45	K. Fisher Full-back	Norwich	22	35.3	3559.7%	731.5%
46	M. Bola Central midfielder	Watford	28	35.3	3531.7%	491.7%
47	J. Tymon Full-back	Swansea	27	35	3511.6%	6412.6%
48	R. Manning Full-back	Southampton	30	34.9	35200.9%	4611.5%
49	D. Sanderson Centre-back	Derby	26	34.7	35498.3%	6514.9%
50	L. Coyle Full-back	Hull City	30	34.6	3519.3%	4218.3%