Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham has acknowledged the importance of loan spells on his young career.

Abraham has become a staple in the Chelsea first-team this season, taking his Premier League goal tally to 11 against Aston Villa on Wednesday.

Last season's loan at Villa followed spells at Bristol City and Swansea City, and Abraham knows how those experiences benefitted his game.

"It was part of my journey," he told the club's website. "I knew I wasn't ready for the Chelsea first team at 17, 18, 19 years old so to go out there and experience men's football, learn different traits and add stuff to my game was really important for me.

"Bristol City [his first loan] was hard, moving away from home for the first time, but I needed it.

"I needed to experience what men's football was like and going out there into the big, wide, scary world was probably one of the best things at the time for me.

"You get to learn about the dark arts. There are things defenders do like little nudges or pinches in the back. At first I was thinking "what are you guys doing?" but when I scored it lifted me even more."