It was a bad weekend for Chelsea, but Liam Delap couldn’t have dreamed of a better Saturday evening. The former Blues striker scored twice against Enzo Maresca’s Man City.

Chelsea were beaten again by Sunderland as Xabi Alonso’s side have now lost three of their last four matches – a poor performance, but one that was affected by Chelsea’s huge number of injured players.

Joao Pedro, Reece James, Josh Acheampong, Emi Martinez, Jamie Gittens and more were missing on Sunday. But for Delap, he is finally starting to show Chelsea what he is capable of at Nottingham Forest.

Troy Deeney says Liam Delap sent Enzo Maresca a brutal message

Man City’s dismal form continued on Saturday night as Nottingham Forest produced a stunning display to beat Enzo Maresca’s side 3-1 at the City Ground. Delap scored twice for Forest during the victory.

Troy Deeney picked Delap in his BBC Sport Team of the Week and believes the uncapped Englishman sent a message to his old Chelsea manager watching in despair on the touchline, as City lost once again.

“He said, ‘You know what, I am the man; you should have kept me around’. Scored two unbelievable goals, led the line, looked physically fitter and stronger. Maybe now that confidence comes through.”

Liam Delap’s record while Enzo Maresca was manager

After his arrival at Chelsea from Ipswich, Maresca once said about Delap: “He’s working hard off the ball and on the ball, understands the game and can score. I think he can be an important player for England.”

But Delap hardly got a chance under Maresca. He scored three goals in 47 appearances for Chelsea, but would only start 20 of those 47 games and completed 90 minutes on three occasions in a Blues shirt.

He played 19 times under Maresca, but was only given 12 starts as Maresca chopped and changed. By the time Joao Pedro got fit, the Brazilian was easily first choice and Delap was forced to feed off scraps.

Under Liam Rosenior, Delap was hardly used from the off and when he did, he was played wide right in a loss to Arsenal. Ultimately, Delap was not given a proper chance in a Chelsea shirt. Was that a mistake?

Chelsea sold Delap to Forest for £50m, but they actually valued the striker at £70m. Against Man City, he proved that he has the quality to be a £70m striker and meet Maresca’s prediction, win caps for England.