Leeds United will return to Championship action on Saturday against Burton Albion bidding to preserve their unbeaten start to the season.

Thomas Christiansen’s side beat Bolton Wanderers 3-2 on the opening day of the campaign before being held to successive 0-0 draws at home by Preston North End and Fulham, although those minor disappointments haven’t derailed the Yorkshire outfit.

In fact, they have grown stronger with impressive 2-0 successes at both Sunderland and Nottingham Forest, with their tally of 11 points leaving them third in the division heading into the season’s first international break.

And Christiansen’s side will be confident of securing another three points on Saturday when Nigel Clough’s Burton travel to Elland Road, with the Brewers having yet to pick up a point on the road this term.

And there’s even more good news for Christiansen as the former APOEL boss has been recognised for his fine start to life in the Leeds hotseat, as he has been shortlisted for the August Manager of the Month award.

The 44-year-old will go up against Cardiff City’s Neil Warnock, Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich Town, and Wolves’ Nuno Espirito Santo for the top prize, and it’s an award the Leeds chief should win, even if his side accumulated less points than messrs Warnock and McCarthy.

Leeds have remained unbeaten during the first month of the season, which Ipswich failed to do after going down 2-0 at home to Fulham just prior to the international break, so that should put Christiansen marginally ahead of McCarthy in the stakes.

Ultimately though, Christiansen has walked into a Leeds side that finished last season in a poor run of form, has picked them up, and has already got them playing as well if not better than they did last time round.

Compare that to Warnock at Cardiff, and he has had much more time to try and get things right at the Cardiff City Stadium, having taken over back in October, and there were signs of their recovery last term as they clinched a top half finish come May, a far cry away from where they were when the former Leeds chief took over.

Yet for Christiansen, in his first managerial role in English football, having overseen a huge overhaul of players, and having sold star striker Chris Wood to Burnley, to come in and remain unbeaten in his first five matches, in which his side have kept four clean sheets, is absolutely sensational.

Leeds fans may not want their boss winning the award, such is the infamous Manager of the Month curse that often comes back to bite the winning chief, but there’s little doubt that his efforts in his first month in the Championship are remarkable, especially for someone new to English football.

And that is why he should win the award ahead of Cardiff’s Warnock when it’s announced on Friday.