SAM Allardyce believes Rochdale’s Keith Hill would be a worthy winner of the League Manager Association’s manager of the season award – but fears the lower leagues will once more be ignored.

Unlike the Premier League award, the LMA gong is voted for by fellow managers but Allardyce admits some of the more less heralded achievements still don’t get the recognition they deserve.

David Moyes, who is taking his Everton side to Ewood Park this afternoon, has already won the award three times this decade but Allardyce would like it to be more widespread throughout the leagues - and would like to see it go to the ex-Blackburn player get the gong.

Allardyce said: “Sadly we really don’t look down the divisions as much as we should do.

“Personally it would be Keith Hill. He is getting promoted at Rochdale for the first time in about 40 years, with the lowest budget. He would be more deserving.

“But I think it will probably be the ilk of Roy Hodgson who wins it, he will probably get past David Moyes this year. He shouldn’t be that greedy anyway he has won it a few years.”

Allardyce insists he and Moyes will enjoy a drink after this afternoon’s game, whatever the result, but admits during the 90 minutes ‘there is no such thing as friends in football’.

“We don’t fall out,” he said. “We got beat 3-0 at Everton. They were in the midst of a struggle after that but now he has got his team storming back.

“We can fall out, because we always stand up for our corner, but this is a football match and at the end of it we come together, have a glass of wine and move on.”