CHELSEA left-sided defender Ryan Bertrand has joined the Canaries on loan till the end of the season.

Bertrand, a Chelsea trainee was purchased as a junior from Gillingham and has now made a number of appearances in the Chelsea reserve squad. The 18-year-old has already had three spells on loan along with earning an England U19 cap.

The defender joined Bournemouth in November 2006, making six appearances for the Cherries before returning to Stamford Bridge. He then returned to the south coast for a further month in January 2007.

This season saw Bertrand join League One side Oldham Athletic on loan in August and go on to make 22 appearances for the Latics before his loan spell ended on January 1.

City boss Glenn Roeder said: "We have been following Ryan at Oldham and we've been very impressed. We believe he can step up to the Championship and help us to pick up as many points as we can."

On joining City, Bertrand added: "I'm really looking forward to playing for such a big club as Norwich City.

"I knew Norwich had been looking at me over the last month or so and once I heard they wanted me having only come back from my loan at Oldham yesterday, then I was straight up here.

"It's brilliant to get a chance to play here and I see it as the next stage of my career," he said.