5 players lighting up the Championship at halfway point

With England's second tier halfway through the 2016-17 term, theScore looks into five players who have been vital to their respective sides' achievements.

If these five players don't book a route into Premier League football via promotion in May, there's a good chance the country's elite clubs will come knocking in the summer.

Anthony Knockaert

Knockaert, 25, wasn't given an opportunity at Leicester City in the Premier League, and was allowed to leave for Standard Liege in Belgium for nothing in 2015. He moved to Brighton & Hove Albion just half a year later, and has since shown he has everything in his locker to succeed at the top - whether it's for the Seagulls or not.

The Frenchman has already contributed eight strikes, despite playing predominantly from the right flank. His last one - the third in Tuesday's 3-0 dismissal of Queens Park Rangers which took Brighton to the Championship's summit - pulled at the heartstrings.

In homage to his father, Patrick, who died in November, the winger celebrated by holding aloft a picture of his dad:

An intelligent infiltrator of space, dead-ball specialist, and a consummate dribbler, it would be the Premier League's loss if Knockaert isn't gracing England's most hallowed grounds in 2017-18.

Dwight Gayle

When goals dried up for Crystal Palace last season, Alan Pardew still didn't trust Gayle.

But things have never been easy for the Newcastle United artilleryman and the Championship's top goalscorer with 17 tallies.

The pint-sized pace fiend was dumped by Arsenal before he'd reached anywhere near his potential, and was left to rebuild his confidence first with Stansted in the ninth tier, eventually earning a switch to League Two's Dagenham & Redbridge.

His talent through subsequent stints with Peterborough United and Palace was obvious, but it wasn't until Rafa Benitez gambled £10 million on him last summer that he blossomed. His knack of poaching is clear, but he's now so full of confidence he's showing a want to crack efforts from distance too.

At this rate, Gareth Southgate will be offering him an England call-up in the near future.

Tom Ince

Ince has been on Premier League teams' radars for some time, but has had scant opportunities.

Hull City inexplicably underused the 24-year-old before selling him to Derby County for £4.75 million in 2015, and the son of ex-England international Paul was immediately in devastating form: scoring 12 and assisting eight over 44 appearances in 2015-16.

The mindless sacking of Paul Clement derailed the Rams' promotion pursuit last season, but under Steve McClaren, in his second stint at Pride Park since October, the club has risen from 20th to seventh, with plenty of thanks due to Ince for his run of seven goals and three helpers in 12 matches from the right-hand side of a three-pronged attack.

Ince's vision from set pieces and when laying the ball ahead of Derby's central frontman - often the veteran Darren Bent - wreaks havoc, and his agility and balance makes it near impossible for defenders to knock him off the ball at times.

Conor Hourihane

Made surplus to requirements by both Sunderland and Ipswich Town, Hourihane is making up for lost time.

Skippering in the midfield of unfashionable Barnsley, the 25-year-old Irishman has produced 10 assists and contributed four goals of his own to take the Tykes into ninth, and six points adrift of the playoff places, at the halfway point.

In addition to his work going forward, Hourihane has only been out-tackled by Derby's Will Hughes (who has made four more) in the league, but makes one less foul per game than his midfield rival.

Unheralded for the vast majority of his career, Hourihane is now a statistician's dream through his sublime reading of the game.

Lewis Dunk

Dunk's composed marshalling at the back is nothing new, with the local lad in his eighth season of professional football at Brighton.

Alongside Shane Duffy, a player who failed to make the grade at Everton, Dunk has helped forged the division's stingiest defense (14 goals against in 23 matches), conceding four less than second-placed Newcastle, and a remarkable 16 less than third-placed Reading.

How Dunk hasn't yet appeared in the Premier League is a mystery - particularly when the top-tier backlines are in their state of general disarray - and his strength, speed, and cultured style in possession give him all of hallmarks of a leading defender.

Top English teams' errors in not acquiring Dunk could be laid bare when he puts their centre-forwards in his back pocket in 2016-17.