The 18-year-old midfielder played every minute in the first four games of the season for Andy Myers’s development squad, who are currently top of the PL2 table.

He opened his goalscoring account for the season away at Manchester City, converting from the penalty spot to kick-start our comeback from 2-0 down to take a point and preserve an unbeaten start to the campaign.

After missing our most recent PL2 outing against Tottenham, the Scotland Under-21 international made his senior debut the following day as a second half substitute in the Premier League against Sheffield United.

In his press conference after the game, Frank Lampard predicted the teenager had a big career in front of him, commenting: ‘I have faith in Billy to come through. He is going to have a big future.’

Gilmour is joined on the shortlist by Emile Smith-Rowe, Folarin Balogun (both Arsenal), Harry Chapman (Blackburn), Brandon Williams, James Garner (both Man United) and Dan Kemp (West Ham).

The shortlist was chosen by the Premier League Football Development panel after PL2 club coaches nominated the best performances by opposing players in each league fixture in August. The winner, also chosen by the panel, will be announced on Friday 13 September.

In other Academy news, goalkeeper Lucas Bergstrom has signed his first professional contract at the club. The Finland Under-16 international signed from Turun Palloseura in his homeland during the 2018/19 season and made his youth team debut in the final game of last term, keeping a clean sheet in a 2-0 win at Reading.