Former Premier League goalkeeper Joe Hart says Nottingham Forest "can only play to Liam Delap's strengths if he shows regularly that he warrants it".

After a slow start to life at Forest - one goal in his first eight appearances - Delap scored twice against his former club Manchester City on Saturday with both goals deserving of their own plaudits.

Discussing the striker's performance and how he can kick-on from here, Hart told BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club: "He will be a streaky kind of player in terms of confidence. He is so aggressive with his finishing and comfortable with both feet.

"But when your confidence isn't up [high] and you're the go-to person then it can be a tough place. When you're a player with power and you start to shoot from 20-25 yards out and it doesn't work, you can feel it from the crowd in the stadium.

"On the flip side, if the crowd believe in him then when he's in and around the penalty area they will scream 'shoot' and that will put wind in his sails.

"Forest can only play to Delap's strengths if he shows regularly that he warrants it.

"They have signed a £50m investment and they can set him up as much as they want, but if he's not doing it all the time then you start thinking about other avenues."

Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton added he's "really pleased" for Delap and is hopeful his two "brilliant goals" will give him more confidence after the international break.

"I don't think he should have a target [for this season]," said Sutton. "He should just carry on doing what he's doing.

"His goals were brilliant, but the way that he finished them was thumped. He wasn't thinking about it, he was just thinking of driving [with the ball] and shooting.

"I'm really pleased for him because he did brilliant at Ipswich Town and then things didn't work out at Chelsea when he got his move.

"He's had a tough start at Forest and they are a tough team to play in, but the game against Manchester City suited him in terms of playing on the counter attack as he's a runner.

"This will hopefully now give him the confidence to score the goals where you need a bit of finesse."