Huddersfield Town's 20-year-old goalkeeper Alex Smithies has been named February's Coca-Cola Football League Young Player of the Month in The Times newspaper's football supplement, 'The Game'.

The award follows a month in which the England Under-19 international kept three clean sheets during an unbeaten month for the promotion-chasing Terriers.

The Huddersfield-born 'keeper joined the club's Academy in 1999 at the age of nine. Since making his first-team debut in the 2007/08 season, Smithies has made 72 appearances for the Yorkshire Club.

"This is fantastic for me on a personal level and I'm delighted to win this award," Alex told htafc.com. "It's nice to get acknowledgement for the hard work I'm putting in, but I'm a team player and my key aim this season is to help the team gain promotion.

"I've got to thank our goalkeeping coach John Vaughan too - he has been massive in my development as a player. He has worked with me closely on a daily basis since I was 13 years old and the work he has put in has been a key part of my personal development."

Each season, Football League clubs invest more than £40m on identifying, training and educating the next generation of football talent.Around a third of this money (£12.6m) is provided by the Football Association and Premier League. There are 8,700 young players registered with League clubs making Football League Youth Development the largest centrally co-ordinated young player programme in world football.

The Football League's Chief Operating Officer Andy Williamson said: "Alex Smithies is widely recognised as an outstanding young goalkeeper, with the potential to go to the very top.

"To play week-in, week-out in such an important and responsible position at such a young age shows he has the temperament and talent to go a long way."

Each month, the Coca-Cola Football League Young Player of the Month Award will be awarded by The Football League to the young player who has made the most significant contribution and impact in first team football. To be eligible the player must be either under 21 years of age or be playing in the season during which he turns 21.

During the month of February, 284 players under the age of 21 appeared in Football League matches with 11 players making their League debut.

Alex follows in the footsteps of the two previous award winners; Victor Moses, formerly of Crystal Palace, won the December accolade before Norwich City's Chris Martin was given the January award.