Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour has opened up on his loan spell at Norwich City last campaign, admitting it was "hard" for him. 

The Chelsea prospect linked up with the Canaries ahead of their return to the top-flight and there were big hopes surrounding him.

However, the 21-year-old failed to live up to the hype in some regards, struggling to make much of an impact in what was admittedly a poor Premier League side.

In the end, the youngster made just 24 Premier League outings last term as Norwich were relegated back to the Championship.

"Was hard," said Gilmour on his Norwich spell, via NorfolkLive.

"It was also hard for my family.

"When you’ve got family in the stands and they’re shouting [abuse] it’s never nice, but I would just get my head down. Of course it’s not nice. They stopped coming to the games, so it wasn’t nice. They weren't coming down for games at the weekend, just staying in the house."

Gilmour continued: "It’s the fans’ opinion. They come to watch games and pay for their ticket and they shout but that has happened and it wasn’t nice to hear."

"I gave it my all, tried to work hard every game. It was a difficult season.

"I went there with the idea of trying to play my best and some games it worked and some games it didn’t, so I took some experience from that and it will help me going forward."

Gilmour is currently preparing for the new season with his parent club Chelsea, although it remains to be seen whether or not the Scottish international will remain there or once again head out on loan.

So far in his short career, the 21-year-old has found regular game time hard to come by at Stamford Bridge, appearing for the Blues just 22 times so far.

The Verdict

This doesn't really come as much of a surprise unfortunately.

Gilmour wasn't playing his best football at Norwich City last term, but in fairness, he was playing in a poor side.

Whilst the fans have every right to comment on a player's performances, it is a shame to hear that things got so bad his family stopped going to watch games.

Gilmour is a player with a bright future, however, perhaps wasn't ready for the Premier League and the relegation dog-fight that came his way.

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens with the youngster this season.