Emiliano Martinez Is Your February Player Of The Month

You know the drill - last week we asked you to vote for your February player of the month, and now the results have been counted. In the end, it was the tightest vote of the season, but Emiliano Martinez pipped Matt Miazga to the award.

The Argentine goalie took 36.79% of the vote, just ahead of his American teammate on 33.96%. Behind them were Nelson Oliveira (16.04%), John Swift (11.32%) and Liam Moore (1.89%).

Martinez joins Andy Yiadom, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, Anssi Jaakkola and Andy Rinomhota in the list of Reading players to have won a player of the month this season.

The Arsenal loanee has proved to be vital both defensively and in open play for Reading. He averages more saves per game than any other keeper in the division this season (4.4, via WhoScored), and is otherwise commands his area convincingly.

However, it's also his distribution that also catches the eye. Martinez is both comfortable with the ball to feet, and capable of passing it accurately. That was highlighted in the build-up to Ovie Ejaria's goal against Rotherham United, in which Martinez was involved.

He's already being talked about as one of Reading's best 'keepers in recent years but, whatever you think of him overall, he's certainly given our chances of avoiding relegation a big boost.

Looking to the future, I'd love for us to tie him down to a five-year ten-year lifetime contract, but it looks like he's set to be Arsenal's back-up goalie next season.

Congratulations again to Emiliano, and here's to him continuing to excel for the rest of the season.