I felt like I was ready for the next step'

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Liam Delap is set to return to Ipswich Town ahead of Saturday’s game against Everton

Liam Delap is enjoying life as a Premier League regular at Ipswich Town his season.

The striker has been one of the surprise packages of the campaign so far, scoring four goals in seven games. This includes a stunning long-range effort against Fulham and a brace against in-form Aston Villa.

Before making the move to Suffolk, Delap had some hit-and-miss loan spells in the Championship on loan from Manchester City, but everything has clicked for him at his new club, helping him to hit the ground running in the top flight.

Liam Delap has bagged four goals in seven Premier League games

“It’s really good,” the 21-year-old told England Football. “I felt like I was ready for the next step and every game I feel like I’m enjoying it more and more.

“I’m learning so much under a new manager and a new team, and playing against the best players in the world week in, week out you’re only going to improve as a player.”

After two tough opening games against Liverpool and Man City, it was important that Delap got into some good goalscoring form. The pressure on his shoulders became even heavier when the Blues tried to recruit an extra forward option in the summer while George Hirst was ruled out through injury, but a move never materialised.

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Thankfully, he’s been able to live up to those lofty expectations, which has helped his side secure some impressive results so far this season.

“It’s really good for my confidence and for the team as well,” Delap explained. “We’ve had a tough start, but we’ve just got to carry on.

“On a personal note, it’s really pleasing, so I’ve just got to back it up now and continue.”

It is, undoubtedly, a significant step-up. The gap between the Championship and the Premier League is huge, as most Town players and fans can now understand, but Delap believes that it’ll help him – especially at international level, where he plays for England Under-21’s.

“The level of opposition that you’re playing against every week is so good, so you learn as a player and improve,” he admitted.

“When you come away, you can add all those little things into the game, along with what all the other boys bring.

“It definitely helps.”

Discussing his personal goals for the next few weeks and months, Delap said: “At club level, we want to continue putting on good performances and just improving week by week and see where it gets us.

“On an individual level, keep performing well and helping the team.

“Then internationally, get through qualifying and try and top the group and put us in good stead for the EUROs in the summer.”

Delap picked up a yellow card in the Young Lions’ 2-1 win against Ukraine at AFC Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium on Friday night. He’s now hit the limit of how many he can accrue, meaning that he’ll miss tonight’s game against Azerbaijan.

Thankfully for him and his side, England are through to next summer’s Euro U21 tournament in Slovakia. To top the group, they’ll need to take all three points at Ashton Gate this evening and hope that Ukraine lose to Serbia.

Speaking about Delap’s booking, manager Ben Futcher stressed that he doesn’t want to ‘take any aggression out of him’ because ‘that’s one of his major strengths’. However, he believes that he needs to ‘learn how to control it’ to be able to take the next step in his game.

When it comes to performing in front of goal, two goals and two assists in the qualifying stage show that he’s up to the task. However, he still thinks there are areas that the can sharpen up on going forward, which is exactly what Town boss Kieran McKenna will want to hear.

“It’s good, but obviously there’s always room to improve,” Delap said about his goalscoring form. “I think we [England U21] could’ve definitely done better, and I could’ve definitely done better in some games.”

Although Delap won’t be able to feature against Azerbaijan this evening, Ipswich team-mate Omari Hutchinson will be looking to earn his second cap at the level.