Sligo Rovers striker Matthew Judge has been named eircom/Soccer Writers Association of Ireland (SWAI) Player of the Month for July.

The 21-year-old was on target three times from four starts for Sligo where the highlight was an impressive winning goal in the 2-0 win over Shamrock Rovers at the Showgrounds.

Sligo Rovers have enjoyed a fine campaign under new manager Paul Cook and are currently fourth in the Premier Division table with Judge being instrumental in their success.

Judge's achievements this season are all the more impressive considering an uncertain future at the start of the year.

Then manager Rob McDonald sought to release Judge after his first season was marred by a knee injury.

However, after McDonald's departure, the Connacht side offered him a second chance and, with Cook at the helm, Judge has thrived.

"The club [Sligo] wanted to keep me. The chairman said he wanted me and they were in touch after Rob left about coming back. Obviously since then, the new manager has come in, I've been scoring goals and everything has gone great" said Judge.

"We've got a lot of confidence at the moment and really me winning this award is because the team is going so well. There's so many good players there."

"We've got a lot of big games coming up with Waterford in the Cup first on Friday so hopefully we can build on our recent run."