Billy Gilmour admits the Norwich City players were left ‘gutted’ by the Covid-19 outbreak in the squad, making a 5-0 pre-season thrashing of Gillingham all the more satisfying.
After last night's friendly triumph over the League One side, as 10,000 fans returned to Carrow Road, head coach Daniel Farke explained that he has been without 11 players during the past two weeks.
That is due to positive tests for some players and others having to isolate due to being deemed as close contacts, contributing to the cancellation of last week’s friendlies against Coventry and Sheffield United.
“Everyone was a bit gutted because we basically had no players and had to cancel a couple of games - and in pre-season the best way to get fit is to play games,” Chelsea loanee Gilmour explained.
“So we were struggling but on the training pitch, we’ve been top-notch. The boss has worked us really hard, doing the extra miles in training, making sure we’re doing it right.
“You wouldn’t look at us and know we had two weeks without a game or something, so it was a really good workout for us.”
All clubs are having to remain careful amid the UK’s recovery from the pandemic, with Manchester United and Arsenal among the teams also having to cancel games during pre-season due to positive cases.
Adam Idah scored twice and Pierre Lees-Melou, Lukas Rupp and Jacob Sorensen were also on the scoresheet as the under-strength visitors were left chasing shadows.
Gilmour was in the thick of the action, with a sumptuous pass to set Dimitris Giannoulis away before Rupp turned in the left-back's cross for 3-0.
“There’s a lot of positives from the game,” the 20-year-old continued. “The next game is against Premier League opposition in Newcastle, so we’ll be tested again but we know what style we want to play and we looked good tonight.”
The Scotland international midfielder twice went close to scoring in the first half but fired just wide and narrowly over after some good movement.
“I was kind of raging I didn’t score,” he joked. “I should have hit the target, but a good win overall and a good performance from the boys.”
The real feel-good story of the evening was the return of supporters to Carrow Road for the first time since just before Christmas though.
It gave Gilmour his first taste of the atmosphere the Canaries faithful can generate and he savoured every moment.
“It was a bit different but amazing to have the fans back, a great result for them and we heard them the full game,” the youngster said.
“It felt like there was a full stadium here but the fans were loud from start to finish and we put in a really good performance.
“We’ve been working hard over the past couple of weeks without any games, on the training pitch, so it was a real good game for the boys.”
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