Loftus-Cheek: I needed Palace move

The 21-year old joined Frank de Boer's side's side on loan earlier this summer and he says that the move came at the right time for him.

Incredibly, the midfielder played more minutes against Hudderfield on Saturday than he managed during the whole of last season at Stamford Bridge and he has admitted to having a tough time of it last time out.

"It's tough being at Chelsea," he said.

"It's a massive club with really good players so you don't get the opportunity every weekend."

"Coming to Palace, I'm really excited to be playing. There's still massive competition here," he added.

The youngster's debut didn't exactly go to plan, with the 'Eagles' falling to a 3-0 defeat to Huddersfield, leading to a number to questions being asked about the use of an unfamiliar 3-4-3 system, though Loftus-Cheek backed the formation to come good.

"I just think it's a new system and things take time," he said.

"We can't just - the first time you play a new system - be perfect at everything.

"We're working really hard on the training ground to smooth stuff over - in time hopefully we'll get it perfect."