Chris Wood’s career-best season just gets better and better for Nottingham Forest, with former club Newcastle United next to try and keep him quiet.
There weren’t many positives to take from Forest’s loss against Fulham but Wood’s beautifully taken goal was at least something to remember for the travelling fans.
Marco Silva hailed Wood’s display in what is becoming a regular occurrence for Forest opposition managers who don’t seem to be able to find a solution for the Kiwi international who has 18 Premier League goals this season.
In fact, Wood has the Premier League’s best shot conversion rate which indicates that his form is no fluke, to the benefit of Nuno Espirito Santo who has developed a system to exploit the target man’s strengths.
Next to try and keep Wood quiet are his former employers Newcastle United, who the forward left to join Forest in 2023. In comparison to his prolific time at the City Ground, Wood scored just five goals in 39 appearances at Newcastle but this didn’t stop Magpies boss Eddie Howe appreciating his talents.
Eddie Howe appreciated Chris Wood at Newcastle United
After an initial loan, Wood completed a permanent move to Forest in the summer 2023 transfer window in a deal that clearly improved the Forest squad significantly.
It never seemed like Wood would be missed at Newcastle either given the brilliance of Alexander Isak so the deal made sense for all parties, but Howe still understood that Wood played an important role in his squad.
Speaking to The Shields Gazette about Wood in November, Howe said: “For me, it was never lost how well he [Wood] played for us, he did everything but score but his positive performances were so important in our effort to stay in the league, especially in that first season.
“The work he did, the unseen things that bring in other players and I think if you ask his teammates that season they’d say Chris Wood is one of the reasons we changed our position in the league.
“He was very selfless and very team-orientated which is why he’s getting the individual accolades that his goals are bringing him so I’m delighted for him personally. He’s a great lad with a great attitude who had a really good time with us so I’m really pleased to see players go on to do well.”
Whilst the sentiment is clearly heartfelt by Howe, it will be forgotten during the match. Especially given what Wood did the last time he played at St James’ Park for Forest.
Chris Wood has hattrick history for Nottingham Forest against Newcastle
Boxing Day 2023 was one of the first games after Espirito Santo was appointed Forest boss, but the Portuguese coach was forced to play second fiddle in the headlines to an incredible Wood performance.
Forest hadn’t won away since September under Steve Cooper so a Boxing Day trip to St James’ Park can’t have appealed to many fans but for those who attended, Wood treated them to a hattrick in a 3-1 away victory.
Speaking to the Nottingham Post after the game about Wood, Espirito Santo said: “Against Bournemouth, he did amazing work and worked really hard for the team.
“Everyone knows Chris Wood because he has been in the game for a while now, but the way he did it today, How he scored, how we was in the right moments. The second goal is beautiful, the one-v-one, then the composure to just flick the ball over the goalkeeper.
“Thank you for the job today, Chris. I really hope he does it again because the talent is there.”
Wood has evidently responded to that “hope” and continued to fire home the goals for the Forest manager, who will be quietly hoping his star striker can repeat the hattrick feat on Sunday.
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