[5] After making his debut as a substitute against Port Vale in March 2002 at the age of just 16, Nugent initially struggled to live up to his early potential, but an explosive start to the 2004–05 League Two season saw several larger clubs take an interest.

[6] Although a target for rivals Burnley, Nugent opted to join Preston North End rather than Northampton Town from Bury in January 2005 for a fee of £100,000.

[6] He scored 10 league goals in 32 Championship appearances in 2005–06, as Preston finished fourth, losing to Leeds United in the playoff semi-final, thus failing to gain promotion.

[15] The next season and after 18 months at the club, Nugent scored his first Premier League goal – against former manager Harry Redknapp at Tottenham Hotspur in a 1–1 draw on 18 January 2009.

[19] On 5 August 2009, it was reported that Nugent had been involved in an alleged bust-up with teammate Marc Wilson during Portsmouth's pre-season trip to Portugal.

[citation needed] Thirty minutes after the transfer window closed it was reported that Burnley had signed Nugent on a six-month-long loan deal with a view to a permanent move, subject to Premier League clearance.

[23] After coming on as a second-half substitute for the Clarets on his home debut against Sunderland, Nugent scored two goals, helping Burnley to a 3–1 win.

[25] After failing to renegotiate a permanent deal with Burnley or attract an alternative Premier League club, Nugent returned to newly relegated Portsmouth in the 2010–11 pre-season.

[29] On 18 February 2012, Nugent scored the winning goal to knock Premier League team Norwich City out of the FA Cup at Carrow Road and put Leicester through to the quarter-finals.

[citation needed] On 23 September 2012, Nugent scored his first career hat-trick in a 3–1 win against Hull City at the King Power Stadium.

[citation needed] Nugent started the match the following week against Ipswich Town and scored two goals but had to be substituted after half an hour for Jamie Vardy because of the neck injury.

[39] On 9 January 2017, Nugent joined Championship club Derby County for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around £2.5 million, on a 2+1⁄2-year contract.

He came on late in the second half, in a game that Derby won 3–0, thanks to first-half goals from Curtis Nelson, James Collins and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.

[53] On 19 March 2007, following much speculation after Steve McClaren confirmed he had been watching Nugent, he was called into the full England squad to replace the injured Darren Bent of Charlton Athletic.

[8] On 28 March 2007, Nugent made his debut as a late substitute for England in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match against Andorra in Barcelona.

[54] He marked the occasion by scoring the final goal in a 3–0 win in the 93rd minute, tapping in a goal-bound shot from Jermain Defoe as it was about to cross the line.