Liam Delap was the hero of the hour for Nottingham Forest as they secured a first home win of the season against Manchester City at the weekend.

Delap was hailed by Troy Deeney, who named him in his BBC Sport Team of the Week after his two-goal heroics, with his second goal the pick of the pair.

Delap takes the plaudits for the strikes he produced at the weekend, however, and Alan Shearer – the Premier League’s top goalscorer of all time – has now given him some advice.

What Liam Delap needs to do next

Shearer knows what it takes to score all different sorts of goals and he remains the top goalscorer that the Premier League has ever seen to this day.

He believes that although Delap scored a special goal against City, he now needs to start adding more scruffy strikes to his game instead of just scoring world-class hits.

“If he scores the scruffy goals, his numbers will improve. As a striker, when someone is paying £50 million for you, they want the goals, and that is what he will be judged on. Getting those scruffy goals will help him and his confidence.

“Scoring those goals, he must have so much belief now. He will watch it back, and it should give him great belief and confidence going forward.”

Shearer is spot on regarding Delap. The striker will feel on top of the world after his goals against City but he will know that he needs to start finding the goal trail on a more consistent basis.

Delap is only young, and after a very frustrating campaign with Chelsea, it’s important that Forest do remain somewhat patient with the striker as he settles at a club where he is the first-choice player.

These goals should do him the world of good, however, and it will be fascinating to see if he can pick up where he left off when domestic action returns following the international break.