Norwich City's Brandon Williams 'taunted and abused by fans'

Brandon Williams, pictured in action with West Ham United's Jarrod Bowen on Sunday

Norwich City player Brandon Williams has claimed he was "taunted and abused by fans" following his team's 4-0 defeat to West Ham United on Sunday.

The 21-year-old full-back said he was targeted by fans surrounding Carrow Road and was "followed by individuals".

"However passionate fans are it is not right that a small minority abuse players or, in this case, follow them," he said in a statement on Twitter.

The club said it was aware of the incident and had spoken to Williams.

A few hundred protesters had gathered outside Carrow Road after the thrashing by the Hammers, the team's first home tie since they were relegated from the Premier League with a 2-0 defeat at Villa Park on 30 April.

Many were chanting "Delia out", in reference to the TV cook, who owns the club with her husband Michael Wynn Jones.

Hundreds of fans protested outside Carrow Road on Sunday

In a post on Monday afternoon, on-loan Williams added the individuals "only stopped following me once they became aware I had noticed them".

"Since arriving at Norwich I have played for the club as if I were a permanent member of the team," he said.

"It is unfortunate that a small number of fans behave like this."

It is understood the matter was not reported to police.

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His statement comes almost 24 hours after he appeared to tell his one million Instagram followers that he had been followed.

On Sunday, he posted a photo of his dog with the words: "For the people that followed me, he's always awake", and a stream of laughing face emojis.

He had also posted a photo of a raised middle finger with the caption "What a beautiful day. Easy up Norwich City", with a location marker for "Suffolk".

Both posts have since been deleted from his Instagram account.

A group of fans called for on-loan Williams to stay at Norwich City ahead of the team's 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa