The Academy graduate has been with the Blues right the way through our youth system and has started every match for Mauricio Pochettino this season, before being handed the captain’s armband to lead the team out at the Bridge against Wimbledon.

As he spoke after the game there was no mistaking what an important moment it was for him, even if it came as a bit of a surprise, as he only found out when he arrived at the stadium ahead of kick-off.

‘It means the world, a really proud moment,’ said the 23-year-old. ‘I had a very proud family at home, so I’m glad it was a win and a good performance. I’m just very thankful and proud.

‘Being here from seven or eight years old when I started in the Academy, living 10 minutes down the road, it’s a dream at the moment. But I don’t want to stop, I want to keep improving, keep helping the club. But it was a great moment and hopefully there will be many more.

‘I found out literally just as I walked into the changing room, when I saw the kitman had put the armband where my shirt was hung up. Obviously I was very happy and very excited, but the armband was slightly too big for me to be honest. I had to get some tape over it to get it stay on my arm. I’ve only got skinny arms!’

Metaphorically, if not literally, the armband seemed to be a good fit for Gallagher, as he led by example with a strong individual performance in a deep midfield role, full of passion and energy.

However, like a true captain, he felt it was the team’s victory and the chance to build some momentum following the Premier League win over Luton Town on Friday which was the most important thing to come out of the night, with an eye on our next match against Nottingham Forest.

‘Everyone’s playing well. There’s obviously a lot of top midfielders but I’m just playing with quite a lot of confidence at the minute and I feel fit and strong. It’s great to have the great squad that we have for this season, it’s really important to help us win games, but I’m happy with how it’s going so far for myself and I just want to keep improving and keep helping the team get more wins.

‘Confidence is a massive thing in football, getting wins is the most important thing, so to get wins against Luton and now Wimbledon is really good and we’ll go into the next game full of confidence and hopefully get the win there as well.’