George Boyd backs Andre Gray to win SkyBet Championship Player of the Year award

Andre Gray celebrates his goal against Blackburn Rovers

The one-time Brentford frontman arrived at Turf Moor for a £6m fee in August and has netted 23 times this term as the Clarets push towards a Premier League return.

The 24-year-old, nominated alongside Fulham’s Ross McCormack and former Bees team mate Alan Judge, could follow in the same footsteps as Danny Ings who scooped the award two seasons ago.

“I think he’s been brilliant,” Boyd said. “Obviously he came in at the beginning of the season with a big price tag but he’s repaid that massively by scoring goals and scoring very important goals for us at that.

“He brings so much more to us as a team because we’ve got a great outlet of pace in behind now. I think he’d thoroughly deserve it if he gets it.”

Strike partner Sam Vokes was the claimant of the Sky Bet Player of the Month award for March when aiding Burnley’s promotion charge with four goals. And Boyd feels the pair have become one of the strongest pairings in the division.

“They’ve been brilliant,” he said. “They’ve properly clicked. Vokesy has come on leaps and bounds in the last few months and thoroughly deserved his honour last month. It’s probably one of the strongest partnerships in the league.”

The Sky Bet Player of the Year awards have been voted for by managers of the clubs in each division. Each Championship manager was asked to list their top five players from this season in order, with the votes added up and the overall top three forming the shortlist.

Previous winners include: Patrick Bamford (2015), Danny Ings (2014), Ricky Lambert (2012), Kevin Phillips (2008) and Phil Jagielka (2007).

The Football League Awards celebrates on and off pitch excellence across The League’s 72 clubs, rewarding players, clubs and fans.

Speaking on the award, Shaun Harvey, Chief Executive of The Football League, said: “We are delighted to announce the shortlist for this prestigious award. It has been another fantastic season in the Sky Bet Championship and the performances that these three players have shown throughout the season make them very deserving of a place on the shortlist.

“We look forward to announcing the winner on Sunday evening.”