That game, which Chelsea went on to narrowly lose, was only 18-year-old Gilmour’s fourth senior appearance.
But he clearly learned from the experience and was the star of the show when the Blues dumped Liverpool out of the FA Cup on Tuesday night.
“Basically he was saying I’m a wee guy,” Gilmour said of his October encounter with Maguire in comments published by the Daily Mirror.
“He was pushing me off, gripping me by the throat, and that’s something I have to deal with. But I won’t let that happen again. That was a lesson,” the youngster added.
“Obviously he is going to try to bully young players and that’s where I need to learn how to be stronger. I’ve been working on that and I can only get stronger. But, yes, definitely, when he gripped me, I remember that really well.”
Having made his Chelsea debut in August, the former Rangers youth player was handed a permanent place in the first-team squad last month after impressing manager Frank Lampard.
The Chelsea boss said this week he has no qualms about using Gilmour in big games, despite his age, because he has ‘absolute trust’ in the player.
“If he’s small in stature he’s huge in personality, and he’s also huge in talent,” Lampard said.
“He does all the right things, and he’s humble. It wasn’t just as a youngster coming into the team, that’s one level, he performed like a top-class player going up against top-class players. It was a great night for Billy,” his manager said of his Liverpool performance.
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Source : 90min