Billy Gilmour needs to do his talking on the pitch to silence his Norwich City critics, in the view of former Rangers and Scotland captain Barry Ferguson.

Ferguson is the latest to offer an opinion after Gilmour was targeted by a section of the Canaries' travelling support in the recent 3-0 Premier League defeat to Crystal Palace.

Club mate Kenny McLean revealed Gilmour had told him about the chants at Selhurst Park, and pledged the rest of the City squad will rally around the Chelsea loanee.

Now his compatriot and former central midfielder Ferguson is urging the 20-year-old to respond in the right way.

"It just sickened me when I saw it," he said, quoted by the Daily Record. "It’s baffling. Some people just don’t appreciate good footballers. I’ve said it numerous times, he’s just a wonderful player.

"The response from the Norwich crowd annoyed and frustrated me, it made me angry. I am convinced Gilmour will go on to become one of the best midfielders in Britain.

"It’s not a pleasant thing to go through. I’ve been there myself and no one likes criticism.

“But you can use it as a positive and throw it back in their faces.

“I didn’t go along with the feeling it was the wrong move. I felt it would show Billy a different side of the game where you are not as dominant as you’d be at Chelsea with 60 or 70pc possession.

“I thought it would show him how it works when you don’t have the ball and need to do different things. It will still be a brilliant learning curve.

"He’s been an absolute dream for Scotland. They’ve been brilliant to watch in the last year and the side has been built around Billy. He’s going to be a mainstay of the Scotland side for the next 12 years."