Video: Lee Johnson and Sam Winnall in the frame for monthly Football League awards

Johnson is among four nominees for the League One Manager of the Month accolade for January after presiding over an impressive renaissance at Oakwell last month.

The Reds boasted a 100 per cent league record for January, claiming excellent away wins at Shrewsbury Town, Bradford City and Swindon Town and hammering Keith Hill's Rochdale 6-1 at home - with Johnson the clear favourite for the award.

The sequence is all the more remarkable, given that Johnson was fighting for his job in the autumn, when the Reds were embarrassingly knocked out of the FA Cup at Altrincham and the club narrowly avoided setting an unwanted club record of nine successive league defeats when triumphing 2-1 at Johnson's former club Oldham on November 21.

Johnson - who has been linked with managerless Bristol City - is competing for the award with former Sheffield United chief Nigel Clough, who won three matches from five with Burton and Wigan Athletic manager Gary Caldwell, whose Latics side went unbeaten in five league matches last month.

The other contender is Millwall's Neil Harris, whose Lions team suffered their only league defeat last month in a 2-1 reverse at Oakwell.

Meanwhile, in-form striker Winnall is among four candidates for the players' accolade and is likely to be the front-runner after hitting seven goals in a hot streak in five league matches last month.

His haul included a hat-trick in the 6-1 drubbing of Rochdale on January 23.

The other contenders are Tom Aldred (Blackpool), Bradley Dack (Gillingham) and AJ Leitch-Smith (Port Vale).