Chris Wood applauds the Nottingham Forest fans after the 1-0 win over Ipswich Town on Saturday
Wood is poised to etch his name into Forest folklore
Chris Wood requires just one more goal to etch his name into Nottingham Forest’s illustrious history as their record scorer in the Premier League era.
Wood has been a revelation since the appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo and his penalty here takes him level with former Netherlands international Bryan Roy on 24 goals.
Forest supporters of a certain vintage will point out that former players such as Ian Storey-Moore, Nigel Clough and Garry Birtles scored significantly more goals at the club, and Forest are operating in the Premier League for only their eighth season since its makeover in 1992.
Yet it is still a landmark achievement that Wood will gladly take and it is only a matter of time until he enters the club’s record books.
Though Forest now face two trips to Manchester, first against City on Wednesday and then United on Saturday evening, Wood has Roy’s 27-year-old record firmly in his sights.
Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood (left) celebrates with Morgan Gibbs-White after the former's goal from the penalty spot against Ipswich Town at the City Ground on Saturday
Wood is congratulated by Morgan Gibbs-White after scoring from the penalty spot
He said: “It’s fantastic but I want to keep going and keep pushing. The team is delivering chances and opportunities.
“It’s easy when they’re putting them on a plate.
“We’ve got a lot of games now coming up but that’s part and parcel of football, especially in England. We know how the schedule can be over Christmas.”
Wood’s penalty ended a recent mini-wobble from Forest to hoist them up to sixth place, in front of owner Evangelos Marinakis who was back in the stadium after completing a five-match suspension for misconduct.
Last season’s Championship runners-up Ipswich were left frustrated after the pivotal moment four minutes into the second half.
Jota Silva, the Forest winger, was brought down by Ipswich’s Sam Szmodics in the penalty area and referee Tony Harrington pointed quickly to the spot, with a VAR review backing his on-field decision. Wood was never going to waste the opportunity and now has nine goals for the season.
Nuno said: “Chris is going to break the records, and all the records in New Zealand.
“I believe he can go on for years and years, players really take care of themselves nowadays and Chris has his ambition to keep going.
“We are so pleased for him and of course the rest of the players love playing with him.
“It was important for us to become hard to beat again and this was us getting back to basics.”
Forest had conceded six goals in their past two matches and were wobbly at times, but Nikola Milenkovic’s no-nonsense performance settled the nerves.
Nottingham Forest's Nikola Milenkovic stays tight to Ipswich Town's Liam Delap during Saturday's Premier League match
Forest defender Nikola Milenkovic (right) did a fine job keeping in-form Ipswich forward Liam Delap quiet
Ipswich’s own talismanic centre-forward, £15million signing Liam Delap, was dangerous at times, dropping deep into problem areas, but largely kept quiet by Forest’s Serbian international.
When Ipswich did elude the Forest defence, goalkeeper Matz Sels was there to save a first-half effort from Omari Hutchinson. Ola Aina also cleared a header off the line from Ipswich defender Cameron Burgess.
Ipswich’s defeat ended a three-match unbeaten run but there were once again signs of encouragement for manager Kieran McKenna.
He said: “It was always a one-goal game and we have to look at the penalty and own it, we can’t lunge in like that.
“We’ve given away a soft goal. We shouldn’t give the referee the opportunity to make a decision like that.
“It wasn’t a particularly high-level game and neither team created an awful lot from open play.
“A draw would have been a fair result on the balance of play and while we weren’t at our best, we were right there in the game and looking a threat.”
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