Scotland's Billy Gilmour battling a common misconception as he recalls Covid nightmare and losing his boots

He turned 23 two days ago. However, in many people’s minds, he’s still the young whippersnapper who took Wembley by storm on his competitive international debut against England three years ago next week.

“People always look at me, maybe height, stature, ‘Small boy, only a kid’,” he says. “I get that. I get it a lot. It’s not something that annoys me. It’s just I am not a young kid now. I have been in the game a good while now, I know my place.”

His place is in the middle of midfield against Germany tomorrow night – or maybe it isn’t. The conundrum of fitting five ‘starting’ midfielders into four places is Steve Clarke’s and Steve Clarke’s alone. But that hasn’t stopped people coming up with their own attempts to solve the dilemma, with some even choosing to omit Gilmour from the starting line-up for Scotland’s Euro 2024 opener. It's a head scratcher for sure.

The hour is getting nearer when we’ll discover what Clarke has chosen to do. The smart money is on Gilmour lining up alongside Callum McGregor. If so, they will have to deal with veteran Toni Kroos, who one imagines will be extra determined to leave his mark on the game as he counts down the appearances until his retirement. McGregor and Gilmour will need to be doubly careful with their possession and use of the ball. “I think that will be the aim for us,” says the Brighton and Hove Albion player.

They will need to play much as they did against England in that 0-0 draw at Euro 2020, when the pair provided a base on which Scotland built to take the game to the hosts at times. The cruellest blow awaited the following day when Gilmour tested positive for Covid ruling him out of the rest of the tournament.

One minute he was on top of the world, the next he was driving back to his London apartment from Scotland’s base near Darlington to self-isolate. He was in such a hurry to pack, that he left his boots behind. “I am still looking for my boots!” he says. “My boots were lost and my shinguards.” The shinguards had some sentimental value since they were covered with pictures of his family and one of him in a Scotland shirt, underlining what playing for his country means to him.

Aged just 20, he was forced to watch Scotland’s must-win game against Croatia from his sofa as Luka Modric curled in a goal to help secure victory for his side. Big fan of the midfielder though he is, no one would have blamed Gilmour if he got up and made himself a cup of tea in disgust at that point. Otherwise, he was being waited on hand and foot.

“I had my neighbour making me food,” he recalls. “I stay in a top level apartment in London and my neighbour below, she also knew my mum, would text my mum asking if I was OK. She would bring up lunch, breakfast and dinner and just leave it at my front door.”

His predicament that summer will never stop seeming surreal but some ample compensation awaits if he is chosen to line-up at the Allianz Arena tomorrow evening in Scotland's first major finals outing since then.

• How to watch Scotland’s Euro 2024 opener for free