Mick and Lads win LMA award

Mick McCarthy has won his first trophy since taking over as manager of Sunderland.

McCarthy has been given the Performance of the Week award by the League Managers' Association for Sunderland's win at Sheffield United last weekend.

The LMA's panel, chosen to select the best performance from the top four divisions, reckoned the Black Cats' win at Bramall Lane stood out from the rest.

They deemed the 1-0 success better than Arsenal's win at Liverpool and Hull's 5-1 win at Northampton. Doncaster's 5-1 victory over Bristol Rovers earned them a mention.

Mick has already received the specially engraved crystal football that is traditionally awarded to the manager of the winning team - the presentation will be screened on Sky Sports' "Soccer Saturday" programme (Sky Sports 1, channel 401, 12 noon - 3pm) ahead of this weekend's final Euro 2004 qualifying matches.