The top 9 best EFL Championship full-backs | OneFootball

Football League World ranks the best of the best in the full-back position this season

There are numerous top-quality full-backs in the Championship currently playing for sides all across the division.

It's often the position that gets the least amount of love, but these players are often asked the most of by managers these days, with the demand for a good full-back to be able to get up and down the channels throughout 90 minutes and make an impact both in attack and defence.

Narrowing this down to just nine players is incredibly tough, but Football League World has had a crack at doing just that.

Here are the nine best full-backs currently plying their trade in the second tier.

9 ? ? Ross McCrorie

Last season, Ross McCrorie established himself as a reliable option at full-back for Bristol City under Liam Manning, and ended the campaign with a lot of momentum, scoring four in his final seven games en route to an eventual top-six finish.

This season, having been one of the few Robins players to avoid a long-term injury, he's shown he can provide a lot more than goals from a wing-back position and has made his game a lot more well-rounded.

The Scotsman has chipped in with goals and assists, still, but his defensive displays under Gerhard Struber have improved, ranking near the top of the duals won ranks in his position, and being in and around the top 20% in other defensive stats, too, per Fotmob.

He may prop up this list, but to be recognised on it is a success in itself.

8 ? ? Josh Tymon

With over 225 appearances at Championship level, Josh Tymon has always been recognised as a solid option, but since he made the switch from Stoke City to Swansea City, he's established himself as one of the premier chance creators from left-back.

He's inside the top 10 for big chances created in the entire Championship this season, competing with the likes of Leo Scienza, Gustavo Hamer and some of the other top playmakers in the division, and he's currently having his best season in terms of assists in his career thus far.

Defensively, he may not be at the level of some of the others higher up on the list, but he holds his own, and he's worthy of a place in it solely due to his attacking contributions.

Swansea's rise up the table under Vitor Matos has gone somewhat under the radar since the Portuguese boss was hired in November, and Tymon has equally gone under the radar in conversations about who the best full-back in the league is.

7 ? ? Jeremy Ngakia

This season has easily been the best of Jeremy Ngakia's career, and the 25-year-old has proven that, if he can go an extended period without picking up an injury, he can be one of the better full-backs in the division.

The former West Ham academy graduate was one of the main fixtures of the impressive defensive displays shown in the run of 10 wins in 19 games, which saw Watford inside the top six at the turn of the year, keeping clean sheets against the likes of Middlesbrough and Norwich City.

Ngakia is right at the top of the tackling and duel stats in the right-back position in the Championship, and has chipped in with numerous goal involvements throughout the campaign, too.

With Ed Still at the helm, Watford still have some faint hope that they can climb back into the top six, and the return of the 25-year-old from his hamstring injury to add that extra grit and determination couldn't come soon enough.

Femi Seriki has had to wait a bit for his breakout year at Sheffield United, but after featuring as more of an impact player last season, he's established himself in Chris Wilder's side from the off this year.

The 23-year-old has made a real impact going forward for the Blades this season. He isn't afraid to take people on and get forward, and it's difficult for opposition defences to get the ball off of him without fouling once he gets a head of steam.

What's even more exciting for Sheffield United fans is that there's clear room for growth, too, and if Seriki continues in this vein of form, he could easily be someone who could make that jump to the Premier League sooner rather than later.

They'll hope that it's with them, and if the Blades do end up back in the top flight soon, Seriki will have a starring role in ensuring it happens.

5 ? ? Leif Davis

While Leif Davis, or Ipswich Town, for that matter, isn't at the level that Championship fans expected of them coming into this season, after the benchmark they'd set themselves two years ago, that doesn't mean that the 26-year-old has been sub-par.

The left-back is still one of the best creative players in his position that the second tier has ever seen, and his expected assist numbers show that he really should have a lot more than he currently does. Maybe not as many as 21, but again, it'd have been some feat to replicate the 2023/24 campaign.

Davis' strengths lie in playing further forward, and perhaps more well-rounded full-backs rank higher because of that, but a top-five position is still highly impressive for the Ipswich left-back.

4 ? ? Ryan Manning

Ryan Manning arrived at Southampton two years ago as one of the more sought-after free transfers in the division following a breakout year with Swansea.

It's taken him a while to start to showcase that at St Mary's, but this season, the Irishman has been one of the star players in the Saints' rise from being a side battling relegation under Will Still to one now with eyes on gatecrashing the top two party under Tonda Eckert.

Manning is currently enjoying the best scoring season of his career thus far, and, like with Davis, his expected assist numbers outline that his goal contribution stats should be much higher, too.

Creating plenty of chances, executing plenty of dangerous balls into the box, while also being a more than reliable defender, too, Manning is clearly worthy of a place inside the top four in this list.

3 ? ? Tristan Crama

Tristan Crama arrived at Millwall last January as a centre-back. But with Jake Cooper and Japhet Tanganga in the ranks and then Caleb Taylor joining as Tanganga departed in the summer, the Frenchman has been deployed at right-back.

At six-foot-four, it really shouldn't work, but this season, Crama has easily been one of the three best in his position.

His defensive nous means that he sits right at the top of the charts for numerous defensive stats, both in the air and on the ground. He's a threat from corners and balls into the box due to his height, and he's also not out of place when it comes to creating chances, too.

The 24-year-old is easily someone who could go and be a success in the Premier League, and if Millwall do end up defying all odds and finishing inside the top two, then Crama will have more than his say in ensuring that happens.

Callum Brittain has been a top 10-level full-back in the Championship ever since he broke through and was part of that Barnsley side who reached the play-offs in 2021.

Now, as he edges closer to what many say is a player's prime age, plus playing in easily the best team he's played for this season, Brittain's displays have gone up a level, and the 28-year-old is on the verge of being a Premier League player.

And you can't deny that, if Middlesbrough do make the jump up, Brittain won't retain his place on the right side of Kim Hellberg's defence, as the former Blackburn Rovers man is one of the best in the division at getting forward and testing opposition backlines both with dribbles or crosses into the box.

Then, on the defensive end, he gets back and recovers as well as most, and isn't afraid to put a tackle in.

Brittain is clearly one of the best full-backs in the division, but one man is playing for arguably the only side that has been better than Middlesbrough this season, who pips him to the post.

1 ? ? Milan van Ewijk

Deservedly taking top spot on this list is Coventry City's Milan van Ewijk, who is that good; many weren't even expecting him to still be playing in the Championship throughout the summer.

The Sky Blues were close to banking £10 million for the 25-year-old in the summer from Bundesliga side Wolfsburg, but talks broke down, and Frank Lampard must be delighted that they did, as van Ewijk has been a staple of the side, closing in on the Championship title.

van Ewijk is consistently in the top 10% of right-backs in defensive stats, per Fotmob, and has contributed to an at times unstoppable attack at the CBS Arena, too, picking up numerous assists this season.

In a few months, Frank Lampard should be thinking about what positions he may need to upgrade ahead of a Premier League return, but the Dutchman will clearly not be on his list, as he's got top-flight quality, and bags of it, making him the best full-back in the Championship currently.