THE voting is now underway for the McCrea Financial Services Player of the Year after the five nominations were unveiled this week.

The club have also announced the candidates for the Young Player of the Year - Dale Keenan, Gary Fraser and Declan McDaid.

It is always hard to pick out individuals when the team has done so well and I think we have really come on this season.

There are a lot of positives for us to take out of the campaign and hopefully we can kick on again next season. Here are the five that are in the running for the award.

STEPHEN O'DONNELL

Stephen has really come on leaps and bounds this season. We have always known how good he is going forward but I think he will admit himself that the defensive side of his game has got a lot stronger this year.

That is a credit to him because he has worked really hard on it and is someone that always wants to learn.

He is first in on a Monday to go over the game from a personal point of view.

He has come on a lot and he has had a really strong season.

He realised himself that he had areas he had to work on and he has done that this season. You can see how much his game has improved. All credit to him for taking that on board and putting in the work. It is great to see him getting his rewards.

STUART BANNIGAN

Banzo has been here for a number of years now and I have made it clear how highly I rate him.

He has had a terrific season and he is getting stronger and stronger all the time.

I have spoken before about what he brings to the team and we have been really pleased with him again this season.

He is a great lad with a great attitude and he has been vital for us this year. He has played a lot of games and formed a really good partnership with Abdul Osman in the middle of the park.

Stuart is a player we rate highly and one that has become a really important part of the team.

ABDUL OSMAN

We brought Abs in last summer and he has been excellent for us in midfield.

It was an area where we felt we needed a different type of player, more of a sitter and someone to give us that bit of security to allow the more attacking players to get on the ball a bit more.

The defensive record this season is down to the team as a whole and it is something we are really pleased with. But I think Abdul has played a big part in that.

He gives you that bit of security and he allows the full-backs to get forward.

He is a good lad as well, he has come up here and enjoyed himself. He deserves to be in the five nominations.

STEVEN LAWLESS

There have been some games this season that have passed Stevie by but that has not been his fault.

Down at Kilmarnock, he barely touched the ball. But it just never came near him or it was played down the opposite side.

He went through a run of games like that where it just wasn't happening for him. But when he is involved and he is on the ball, he is a big player for us.

He works really hard for the team and he does a lot of work that the fans might not realise. He has had a really good season and is an important player for us.

He is always telling us in training how many assists he has as well!

RYAN STEVENSON

Stevo admitted himself that it took him a while to get going and get up to speed this season. He knew he was off it a bit at the start but he knuckled down and worked really hard and he is feeling the benefit of that, as is the team.

It took him a few games to get his first goal for us and it is good that he has been able to combine the work he does on and off the ball with a few goals as well.

He has got a lot of quality and he is a very intelligent player with his movement.

He gets into areas where he is hard to pick up and he does a lot of work off the ball.

He is a really clever footballer and someone we are really pleased to have at the club.