Kijuan Franks is the first Digicel Premier Division Player of the Month.Franks beat out PHC striker Antwan Russell in the voting with fans overwhelmingly backing the Devonshire Cougars defender for the October award.“That's definitely a nice thing to get, it's a nice accolade to have,” said Franks.With his team battling it out at the top of the Digicel Premier Division, the Cougars defender said the past month or so had been a good one for him and his team.Cougars were unbeaten in the league in October, winning four games, keeping three clean sheets and conceding just one goal.Overall the Devonshire side have let in just eight goals in eight Premier Division matches and along with the best goal difference have the meanest defence in the league.“It has been a good month, we're beginning to find ourselves,” said Franks. “It was a bit rough at the start, it was a combination of having the new manager, getting used to the way he wanted us to play, and guys were just trying to find their form.”The presence of new boss Dennis Brown has finally started to make an impact on the Cougars defence, and Franks said Brown had made demands of him from the beginning.“I'm feeling pretty confident about my game, it could be a little better but as I play a little more it'll come,” he said.“It wasn't hard for me to adjust, he just demanded more of me. He wanted me to be more of leader in defence, become more vocal.“This squad has been the same for the last three or four years, so we've all had to adjust.”With little separating the top four teams in the Digicel Premier Division, Franks said Cougars were focused on keeping pace with defending champions North Village.“We're just trying to keep pace with Village but it looks like it's going to be a thrilling race to the end. Hopefully we can sneak our way in front and stay there,” he said.