The 40-year-old took over at Kenilworth Road during the World Cup break in November and has steered the Hatters into the play-off places with three wins from four league matches in the opening month of 2023.

Town came from behind to win 2-1 at Huddersfield on New Year's Day, before recovering from a 3-2 home defeat to West Brom to win 2-0 at Wigan prior to ending the month with a 1-0 victory over Cardiff, a transfer deadline night result that took Edwards' side up to fourth in the table.

The Hatters manager is up against Middlesbrough's Michael Carrick, Sheffield United's Paul Heckingbottom and Burnley's Vincent Kompany in the running for the award, and here is what the league sponsors had to say about each:

Michael Carrick (Middlesbrough)

Boro continued their upward mobility under Carrick, winning three of their four games to move into third place in the Championship table, doing so with a gritty 2-0 win over Watford which saw them leap-frog their promotion rivals.

Rob Edwards (Luton Town)

Edwards navigated a busy month, which included three cup ties, to oversee Luton’s climb into the play-off places. His side continued to impress on the road, winning at Huddersfield and Wigan, to collect nine points from four matches.

Paul Heckingbottom (Sheffield United)

Maintaining momentum can be as hard as gaining it in the first place. Heckingbottom’s side did exactly that, finding a last-gasp equaliser at QPR before beating Stoke and Hull to tighten their grip on the second automatic promotion place.

Vincent Kompany (Burnley)

Kompany is the manager who just keeps on giving, leading his side to nine points from another perfect month. So often dominating games, Burnley showed their battling qualities to come from behind and beat a resurgent West Brom.

ALL WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON FRIDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2023

The Sky Bet Manager of the Month judging panel comprises former Barnsley manager Danny Wilson, Sky Sports’ EFL expert Don Goodman, and Sky Bet EFL trader Ivor Davies.