Chris Wood closing on Premier League return for Nottingham Forest

Chris Wood celebrates scoring his team’s third goal during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest FC and Brighton & Hove Albion FC.
Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images

All Whites captain Chris Wood could return to action for Nottingham Forest for the last two months of their English Premier League campaign after recovering from a knee injury.

Wood played for the club’s second team over the weekend and Forest manager Vitor Pereira said the prolific striker would rejoin his squad to train during the looming international window and could be available as soon as their next match, against Aston Villa on 13 April.

“Now we have time with him to start working with the team and to increase his level and his confidence,” Pereira told reporters after Forest’s crucial 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in London on Monday.

“And I think he will be able to help us in the next games.”

The update will delight New Zealand fans, with Wood’s place at the mid-year FIFA World Cup having been under a cloud since undergoing knee surgery in December.

The 34-year-old hasn’t played since injuring his knee during a Premier League match against Chelsea in mid-October, with his absence keenly felt.

Wood’s absence for the All Whites has extended into the looming friendly internationals against Finland and Chile in Auckland.

Forest have been sucked into a relegation battle over the closing weeks although their win over Spurs have given them some respite, lifting them 16th and three points outside the drop zone with seven games to play.

Last year he scored a club-record 20 Premier league goals as they finished seventh and earned a long-awaited return to Europe.

Wood scored via a close-range header early in the match for Nottingham Forest B against Newcastle’s under-21s on Saturday, helping them to a 3-0 win.

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