Kevin Sammut is the winner of The Times/Sunday Times Best Player Award for season 2007-08.

The Marsaxlokk and Malta midfielder, a favourite to land the coveted Malta FA Player of the Year award, succeeds former team-mate Daniel Bogdanovic as The Times best player after finishing top of our classification, albeit by a very slim margin.

Our top performers' chart is compiled by adding the points - on a scale of 1 to 10 - our football reporters give to players for their performances in every Premier League match throughout the course of the season.

The overriding aim of this formula is to award due recognition to those players who attain a high level of consistency in their performance graph as well as those who figure in the highest number of matches for their teams.

Sammut secures the prize with an accumulative total of 173.5 points, a mere 2.5 points ahead of Birkirkara defender Ronnie Hartvig.

Jamie Pace, who flanked Sammut in the Marsaxlokk midfield last season, is third, three points behind the winner and only half-a-point ahead of Birkirkara midfielder Shawn Bajada who has the fourth-best total. Paul Fenech, also of Birkirkara, is fifth.

The leading five positions are claimed by players from the six teams that competed in the Championship Pool last season. Players whose teams failed to make the top six in the league have a significant handicap in our final ratings since the Relegation Pool sides play four matches fewer than those in the Championship Pool.

Nevertheless, Pablo Doffo and Edmond Agius, midfielders who turned out for Hibs last season, still managed to garner an impressive number of points.

Sammut will be presented with The Times Best Player trophy during the Replay Gala Night at the Excelsior Grand Hotel on July 4.

1. Kevin Sammut (Marsaxlokk) 173.5 points (Played 27; Average mark 6.4)

Having played a prominent role in Marsaxlokk's title success in 2006-07, Kevin Sammut has confirmed his status as one of the most talented midfielders in the Premier League.

Skilful and direct, Sammut's versatility was in ample evidence last season, the 27-year-old Malta midfielder proving a handful for opposing defenders with his powerful incursions down the wings or through the middle.

After a difficult start to the season, Sammut rediscovered his usual form to spearhead Marsaxlokk's charge to second place in the standings. Named BOV Player of the Month three times last season.

2. Ronnie Hartvig (Birkirkara) 171 points (Played 27; Average mark 6.3)

Signed by Birkirkara in the close season, Ronnie Hartvig immediately announced himself to Maltese football with a solid performance in the Stripes' 1-1 draw against Hibernians on his competitive debut.

Tall and slim, Hartvig's clever interceptions and smooth distribution of the ball showed that there was much more to his game than just brawn power and aerial supremacy. Voted best defender in the Premier League at the seventh Malta Football Awards.

3. Jamie Pace (Marsaxlokk) 170.5 points (Played 28; Average mark 6)

Jamie Pace, 31, may not have scaled the performance heights reached in 2006-07 but he was still a commanding figure in the centre of Marsaxlokk's midfield last season. Found it hard in the initial stages of the season to live up to his reputation as a box-to-box midfielder but his performances picked up as the league campaign moved on.

Described by national coach Dusan Fitzel as Malta's most influential player in the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

4. Shawn Bajada (Birkirkara) 170 points (Played 26; Average mark 6.5)

Long regarded as a bright prospect, Shawn Bajada finally did justice to his talent with a terrific campaign in his first season as a Birkirkara player. Blessed with fine technique and an exquisite left foot, Bajada, 25, knocked down the perception that he's too small and too slow to make his mark in midfield.

Bajada, who also broke into the national squad last season, has the best average mark in The Times chart but his chances of winning the prize suffered as a result of his not starting two of Birkirkara's last four matches.

5. Paul Fenech (Birkirkara) 169 points (Played 27; Average mark 6.2)

The third Birkirkara player to feature in our top five. Like team-mates Hartvig and Bajada, Paul Fenech, 21, justified Birkirkara's faith in him by immediately establishing himself as an automatic choice in John Buttigieg's team.

His high work ethic and non-stop movement enabled him the make the holding midfield role his own. Missed only one of Birkirkara's 28 league games last season and was instrumental in the team's FA Trophy success.

6. Heiner Backhaus (Valletta) 168
7. Roderick Bajada (Sliema Wanderers) 165
8. Manolito Micallef (Floriana) 163
9. Josef Mifsud (Valletta) 162
10. Emil Yantchev (Birkirkara) 161.

Top five players in each team

Valletta
1. Heiner Backhaus 168; 2. Josef Mifsud 162; 3. Kenneth Scicluna 153; 4. David Camilleri 152; 5. Sebastian Monesterolo 151. Top scorer: Sebastian Monesterolo 19 goals.

Marsaxlokk
1. Kevin Sammut 173.5; 2. Jamie Pace 170.5; 3. Reuben Debono, Renato Conceicao 146; 4. Peter Pullicino 141. Top scorer: Julio Alcorse 12 (two for Hibs).

Birkirkara
1. Ronnie Hartvig 171; 2. Shawn Bajada 170; 3. Paul Fenech 169; 4. Emil Yantchev 161; 5. George Mallia 157. Top scorer: Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza 11 goals.

Sliema Wanderers
1. Roderick Bajada 165; 2. Brian Said 154; 3. Matthew Bartolo 150; 4. Roderick Briffa 142; 5. Etienne Barbara 138. Top scorer: Ivan Woods 10 goals.

Floriana
1. Mano Micallef 163; 2. Zoran Levnaic 160; 3. Simon Agius 144; 4. Trevor Cilia 142; 5. Christian Cassar 139. Top scorer: Ryan Darmanin 10 goals.

Ħamrun Spartans
1. Alfred Effiong 151; 2. Rupert Mangion 147.5; 3. Ryan Fenech 147; 4. Gaetan Spiteri 145.5; 5. Branislav Timotic 135. Top scorer: Alfred Effiong 10 goals.

Hibernians
1. Pablo Doffo 147 (from a possible maximum total of 240); 2. Edmond Agius 144; 3. Andrew Cohen 141; 4. Terrence Scerri 136; 5. Jonathan Caruana130. Top scorer: Terrence Scerri 11 goals.

Msida St Joseph
1. Tyrone Farrugia 135; 2. Dino Cachia 131; 3. Priso Doding 128; 4. A. Farrugia, C. Brincat 117. Top scorer: Priso Doding 11 goals.

Pietà Hotspurs
1. Martin Deanov 122; 2. Edward Herrera 119; 3. Carl Sammut 112; 4. Svetlan Kondev 107; 5. Rumen Galabov 104. Top scorer: Martin Deanov 7 goals.

Mqabba
1. Marlon Briffa 141; 2. Marcelo Pereira 139; 3. Kris Calleja 127; 4. Nick Gatt Baldacchino 124.5; 5. Dylan Zarb 112.5. Top scorer: Marcelo Pereira 14 goals.