Liam Delap remains committed to earning a first ever England call-up amid his strong start to life at Nottingham Forest.
The striker, who signed in a £50million move from Chelsea during the summer, shone for his new club in their 3-1 win over Manchester City over the weekend.
Delap scored two thumping goals against his former side to help Forest rise out of the Premier League relegation zone.
The double took his league tally to three for the season thus far, and he has already beaten his total from the 2025/26 campaign at Chelsea.
Having impressed at Ipswich Town, Delap joined the Blues for £30m in June 2025 but had an underwhelming spell at Stamford Bridge.
With two goals in 41 outings across all competitions, one of which was in the Premier League, the 23-year-old flattered to deceive.
Speaking to talkSPORT on White and Jordan on Wednesday, Delap honestly reflected on his tough time at Chelsea as he said: “When things don’t go so well, you learn a lot.
“You’re sitting there sometimes, frustrated and angry. But you’ve just go to get through those moments because football’s not a linear path.
“I think it grows you as a man more than anything, to be honest, just staying focused and concentrating on yourself.”
Delap reveals England hopes
Club football has paused for the international break for one final time in 2026, although Delap is still at Forest as he did not receive a call-up with England for upcoming matches against Croatia and Spain.
He has 14 goals in 38 appearances at youth level for his country and is yet to be involved with the senior side, but the honour is in his sights.
“Yeah, 100 per cent, it’s the ambition as a little kid,” he replied when asked of his aspirations to play for England.
“I’ve just got to focus on what I can control, focus on game by game at Forest, and then see what happens.”
When could Delap play for England?
Nine-time England international Danny Murphy joined the show, and believes that Delap is capable of featuring for England at Euro 2028.
Qualification officially gets underway in March, with the tournament then being played from June 9 to July 9, 2028.
That gives Delap plenty of time to stake his claim for a striker spot in the England squad should they qualify, with captain Harry Kane set to remain as the no.1 choice.
And Murphy is confident that, should he maintain his current form at Forest, he will be in and around head coach Thomas Tuchel’s plans.
“I think Liam’s got a great chance of carrying on the way he is,” Murphy said.
“If he’s playing regularly and his confidence builds, I think he’s got a great chance of being in the Euros squad.”
