The Matildas captain, who has recently been named as the best women’s footballer in the world according to the Guardian newspaper’s list, has been chosen as one of five contenders by a panel of experts, including coaches, players, administrators and journalists.Kerr is up against Lyon’s Lucy Bronze, former Chicago Red Stars team-mate Julie Ertz, Arsenal’s Vivianne Miedema and the Ballon d’Or winner Megan Rapinoe.The 26-year-old is a proven prolific goalscorer and prior to her move to the Blues, Kerr finished as top scorer in two domestic leagues.In the Australian W-League she found the net 13 times at Perth Glory and won back-to-back golden boots. She also finished top scorer in America’s National Women’s Soccer League NWSL for the third successive season with a record 19 goals in 23 games for Chicago Red Stars, resulting in her being named the league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) for 2019.During the 2019 Women’s World Cup, she scored five times and became the first Australian to score a hat-trick at a World Cup.

Upon being nominated Kerr spoke about her 2019 highlights and said: ‘Any time you’re nominated for an award it’s a huge honour and it’s exciting.

‘Last year was a bit of a rollercoaster with the World Cup and playing for Chicago, playing in our first final, so there was a lot of ups and downs.

‘But anytime you represent your country at a World Cup it’s an amazing feeling and an amazing honour.

‘Obviously it didn’t go the way that we wanted it to but it was a huge learning curve and was probably the highlight, but on a pernal level probably the Chicago semi-final, scoring the goal that sent them to their first ever final.’Kerr made her Chelsea debut against Reading and she assisted two goals in our 3-1 win. However, the striker opened her account on Sunday 19 January when she scored a header in our 4-1 victory versus rivals Arsenal.Voting closes at 9am on Monday 2 March and the winner of the award will be announced on Tuesday 24 March on BBC World Service and the BBC Sport website.

To vote for Sam Kerr, click here

The Blues take on Birmingham City tonight at Kingsmeadow and kick-off is at 7pm. Tickets are available on the gate from 5.30pm for £9 for adults and £1 for juniors (under-20) and seniors (over-65).

Read: Chelsea v Birmingham City preview

The match is also being shown live on the 5th Stand app from 6.55pm.