As Arsenal’s Ezri Konsa and Gabriel would attest after a bruising experience last weekend, Liam Delap is a real handful. When he was a teenager at school in Derbyshire, the Nottingham Forest striker played rugby and would plough through opponents with sheer power and strength.

In a crucial European Championship qualifier for England Under-21s two years ago, he bullied Ukraine’s centre-backs to such an extent that he was highlighted as a future No 9 for the senior team.

That reputation as a traditional, mobile centre-forward is why Forest paid Chelsea £50m to make Delap their record signing this summer. He is still only 23 and produced his best Forest performance yet in Sunday’s home defeat by the champions.

He faces former club Ipswich Town on Friday night and centre-backs across the Premier League will know exactly what to expect.

“I relish those types of battles like I had against Arsenal. With the profile of striker I am, I like to get involved and put myself about,” he says. “There’s a fine line between going over the top with it, but that’s what I do well and one of my strengths is being physical.

“I had a really good battle with him [Konsa] and we were talking to each other a lot during the game. If somebody is giving you a bit, you’ve got to give it back.

“You’ve got to live on the edge and find that balance. Since I was a little kid it’s always been the same and it’s never changed. I don’t want to change it now.”

Delap’s performance against Arsenal offered Forest real hope for the future, and he is now desperate to add the most important commodity: goals.

Though he is off the mark after a fine 22-yard strike in the win at Aston Villa last month, Delap knows he will be ultimately judged on his finishing.

Forest are still seeking lift-off under manager Oliver Glasner, yet despite three defeats in a row Delap says there is genuine optimism that it will click soon. Forest have the fifth-best expected goal difference in the league, and the fourth-best defence.

“Every single game since I’ve been here, I think we’ve deserved to win,” says Delap, sitting in the boardroom at Forest’s training ground.

“It’s hard to be too disappointed because we’ve been performing well so it’s about putting that into points. We’re not worried at all.

“We need to be a little bit more ruthless and we could be in a much better place.”

Glasner was one of the key reasons why Delap chose to join Forest in the summer. There has been a long-standing interest from Forest’s Austrian manager, who spoke to Delap while he was in charge at Crystal Palace last year.

Delap says: “When I spoke to him last year it really stuck with me about his ideas and how he was as a person.

“His record with strikers is also really good. I feel like I’ve already learned so much.

“I think he’s going to be so vital for the team and for everyone’s improvement. He’s only had a few months here and we already understand how he wants to play.

“You can see that it’s working and that everyone is getting more used to it with every game.”

Delap’s move to Forest ended an eventful 14 months at Chelsea. He opted to join them in June 2025 when Enzo Maresca, his former coach at Manchester City, was in charge.

He scored in the Champions League against Barcelona and was performing regularly, but the final months of the season were difficult. Maresca departed on New Year’s Day and Delap struggled with injuries, while João Pedro was preferred ahead of him.

In the summer, he was told to train separately from the main squad with players made available for sale. The No 9 shirt was also taken off him and given to Pedro.

“Obviously it’s a bit rubbish going to train away from the group, but I think I’ve got really good people around me,” says Delap.

“My dad [Rory, the former Stoke midfielder and Republic of Ireland international] has been through it all, and you hear everything that happens in football, so nothing surprises you.

“That good culture that I’ve got around me helped and it’s just about keeping your head down. Only do what you can do right because if you do something bad then it will only be negative on you.”

Despite how it ended, Delap reflects on his time at Chelsea as a valuable experience. “You have your ups and downs and I’ll never regret doing anything because it just shapes me as a person. I’m still only young and not everyone is on a linear path,” he says.

“I learned so much from Chelsea. Even when I was on loan at Stoke and Preston they didn’t work out football-wise but they taught me so much.

“Sometimes you learn and benefit more when things aren’t going well.”

Delap returns to Ipswich, where he flourished in 2024-25 after a £20m move from Manchester City, on Friday for the first time.

Under the management of Kieran McKenna, who Delap describes as “incredible”, he scored 12 goals in 37 Premier League appearances. Despite Ipswich’s relegation that season, his reputation soared.

“Ipswich is a special place and really developed me as a person and player. I’m grateful for everything that I did there, even though it was such a short time,” he says.

“They gave me the experience and trusted me. Kieran built such a good environment over the few years before I got there and it was such a winning culture. Everyone was together and knew what they had to do.”

It was during his time at Portman Road where the first whispers of Delap as an eventual successor to Harry Kane emerged. Delap has been capped at junior level with England from the Under-16s to the Under-21s, and also trained with Thomas Tuchel’s senior team while at Ipswich.

Glasner insists he should be targeting a place in Tuchel’s Euro 2028 squad and prove why he is being discussed as the heir to Kane’s throne.

“Of course playing for England is a dream of mine. As a little kid it’s all you want to do, though it obviously won’t be easy and I’ll have to work for it,” says Delap.

“Harry is as near to perfect a striker as you can get, especially with his finishing. He’s got everything and he’s someone to look up to and aim towards.

“He’s done it for so long and it’s incredible. For now, I’m fully focused on Forest and the present – if you put in 100 per cent then you can have a chance at anything.”