Enzo Maresca has tipped Liam Delap to break into the England squad ahead of Chelsea's Premier League clash against Ipswich Town on Monday.

Maresca knows Delap well, having worked with him during his time as a coach at Manchester City. The Blues have even been linked with a January move for the 21-year-old, who has scored six Premier League goals this season.

“Liam is a fantastic player, and also for his age,” said Maresca. “I think we spent one year together and I think he scored 22, 24 goals and he is a very good striker.

READ MORE: Chelsea didn't want me in the summer- now I'm gunning to ruin Enzo Maresca's title dream

READ MORE: I won the Champions League with Chelsea on my first start - now I tell them who to sign

“In England they have many like him and they have many good players, good strikers and he’s working hard off the ball, on the ball, he understands the game and can score goals. And also because of his age, I think he can be an important player for England.”

Chelsea head to Portman Road on Monday looking to bounce back from their first defeat since October, the 2-1 Boxing Day derby loss to Fulham. “That’s very important, we want to try to prepare the game in a way to help us win the game,” added Maresca.

“We have a bad feeling about the last game that we lost against Fulham and hopefully we can come back with three points after this game. We never thought we were going to win every game, but now we’ve lost and they just said to me that we lost on August 18 (against Manchester City).

“And then, after two months (a second league defeat of the season against Liverpool), then another two months, and we know the reality is that you don’t lose a game every two months. Now it’s just a matter of how we react and we go again.”