Nottingham Forest are sweating on the injury sustained by Chris Wood on international duty.
The New Zealand star helped his country qualify for the World Cup on Monday but was substituted after 54 minutes with a hip problem.
Wood admitted he couldn’t say much until he’d been for a scan and that has left Forest supporters seriously anxious.
The 33-year-old talisman has been in fine form this season, bagging 18 goals to go with the 15 he scored in all competitions during 2023/24.
Forest’s season could very much hinge on the results and it would be nice to end the speculation and have some clarity very soon.
Photo by DAVID ROWLAND/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by DAVID ROWLAND/AFP via Getty Images
What Nottingham Forest and New Zealand sources are saying about Chris Wood
The striker is massively important to the Forest team and losing him could be seriously detrimental.
Now, some contrasting reports have emerged and the anxiety levels will be going through the roof among the fan base.
Michael Burgess covers football for the New Zealand Herald and he’s posted on X an update and it’s hard to understand what the situation is.
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He said: “Hearing very different things about Chris Wood.
“1. Sources very close to @NFFC tell me the injury is not serious, expected back soon.
“2. Someone close to the action here indicates he could be out for an extended period, which would be awful for him and Forest.”
Wood injury could open the door for Taiwo Awoniyi
The Nigerian striker has never really had a proper crack of the whip since Nuno Espirito Santo came to the club.
Wood hasn’t been able to stop scoring for the Reds since the new head coach came in and that’s left Awoniyi feeding on scraps.
The forward has scored just one Premier League goal this season and clearly, he will need to change that sort of form if Wood is to be out for a prolonged period.
Football in the modern era is a squad game, however, and it appears that Forest might need to now dip into their resources for the final nine games if Wood is to have suffered a serious setback.