CONNOR WICKHAM has won the Barclays Player of the Month award for April.

The Sunderland striker, who was on loan at Leeds United as recently as mid-March, scored five league goals last month to help fire his side out of the relegation places.

He bagged braces against Manchester City and Cardiff, as well as scoring Sunderland's first goal in their remarkable 2-1 win at Chelsea.

Wickham becomes the second Sunderland player to win the award this season after Adam Johnson was named Player of the Month for January.

The 21-year-old: "I’m delighted to receive the award and it means so much to me.

"We’ve picked up some great points in recent weeks and we need to keep going."