Norwich City striker Cameron Jerome has missed out on winning the Championship's player-of-the-month award to Ipswich defender Tyrone Mings.

Jerome was short-listed, along with Mings, Blackpool's on-loan former Norwich City academy keeper Joe Lewis and Blackburn's Ben Marshall after plundering five league goals in September, including strikes in the away wins over Cardiff City and Brentford and a brace against his former club Birmingham City.

The 27-year-old has continued in the same vein at the start of this month, with the equaliser in last weekend's 1-1 home draw against Rotherham.

City's East Anglian rivals completed a double when Mick McCarthy was named the Championship's manager of the month after guiding the Tractor Boys to sixth. Ipswich have not lost since a 1-0 derby defeat to Norwich at Portman Road in August, winning four league games and drawing the other one last month.

Town missed out on the chance to go level on points with Neil Adams' side entering the international break when they conceded a stoppage time equaliser to Nottingham Forest last weekend.

City skipper Russell Martin, writing in his regular blog on the club's official site, will take nothing for granted despite going into the break top of the pile.

'It provokes a good feeling from everyone involved with the club and a sense of pride that all the hard work we have been putting in is paying off,' he said.

'Football can change very quickly however and that is why we won't be getting carried away or complacent. The league is seriously tight at the top at this stage of the season and in the next few weeks there will be chances for teams including us to try and break away from the pack that separates first place and seventh by three points.

'The last two games show how tough this league can be and have hammered home to us as a group that we need to be ruthless and clinical if we want to win the league. I remember having games like these last time we got promoted such as Preston and Hull at home. The fact we are slightly frustrated not to have more points on board tells me that the standards we have set for ourselves this year are extremely high.'