Nottingham Forest have made a very strong start to the 2024/25 Premier League campaign and sit tenth in the table with 10 points.
The Reds visited Chelsea on Sunday and left with a share of the spoils to maintain an unbeaten record away from the City Ground this season.
Matz Sels was the Forest hero and he took some plaudits from Joe Hart. The Reds stopper made seven saves, with Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea goal making eight!
It was certainly a game for the neutrals at the weekend. Forest battled hard for a point and haven’t been defeated in away games with Southampton, Liverpool, Brighton and now Chelsea this season.
With the season now in full swing, there have been some top Forest performers. Despite a host of summer signings, however, it’s one of last season’s star pupils who is still dragging the Reds through games at the moment.
Roy Keane praises Nottingham Forest star Chris Wood
The striker has grown as a footballer during his time at Forest. His £15 million move from Newcastle was met with some angst with many believing it wouldn’t prove value for money.
Eddie Howe claimed he didn’t want to sell Wood when Newcastle did part with him. Forest fans were incensed though and wanted a trendier name to spearhead the team’s attack.
Without Wood, Forest would probably be an EFL team right now. Last season his 14 goals saw Forest over the line and he’s picked up where he left off with four this season.
Keane is certainly a big fan of Wood at Forest. He’s defended the role that he plays – even if target men aren’t always quite so popular in the modern era.
He said on the Stick to Football podcast: “Wood, the striker, we knock strikers like him, but he does a pretty good job. His record is good in the Premier League.”
Wood deserves new Forest contract
It’s claimed that Forest are going to open talks with Wood over a new deal and given what he’s achieved at Forest that makes sense.
Next season, Wood will be 33-years-old but whilst he’s scoring goals it feels like the right thing for the club to do by offering him a new deal.
Wood is closing in on Bryan Roy’s record of 24 Premier League goals and is now just six away from breaking that long-standing tally of top-flight strikes.
The player has silenced his critics at Forest considerably during his time at the club. Now, it’s time that Forest rewarded him for his efforts and kept him on Trentside.
Nuno Espirito Santo is clearly a big fan of Wood and with that in mind, it might not be too long before Forest extend his stay at least by another year.
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