Red hot Wood awards himself order of the boot as 'penalty' verdict spot on for Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest will aim to make the most of successive home games before the next international break.
On the back of last Friday’s 3-1 victory at Leicester City, Nuno Espirito Santo’s Reds are seventh in the Premier League table. Next up is a clash with West Ham on Saturday (3pm kick-off), with Newcastle United the visitors the following weekend before the action pauses for a fortnight.
Having claimed their first win at the City Ground since April by beating Crystal Palace 1-0 earlier this month, Forest will have their sights set on maintaining their good form. Ahead of taking on the Hammers, Sarah Clapson has opened up her notebook on some of the less obvious news and chat Trentside...
Transfer decisions
Consistency in results and performances is a direct consequence of consistency in the dressing room, according to Ryan Yates. The midfielder feels the Reds are reaping the rewards of transfer decisions made in the summer.
Not only did Forest recruit well for the new season, they also held on to their star men. The likes of Morgan Gibbs-White, Murillo, Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi were not without their admirers, but all remain key members of the squad as any potential suitors were fended off.
“Really confident,” Yates said of the feel-good factor in the squad after Friday’s win. “We’ve got a striker scoring goals, we’re solid throughout the team, but we’ve started really well.
“We’ve kept the core of our players when a few of them could have been sold. We’ve kept the quality and strength in depth in every single position.
“The lads off the bench have been magnificent. They’re not weakening the side one bit. It’s all signs that we’ve got an incredibly strong squad.”
The skipper insists he isn’t looking at the table. However, the 16 points Forest have accumulated so far is already half of the 32-point total they managed in the whole of last season.
“That’s impressive,” Yates added. “We’ve made a really good start, but let’s not get carried away and keep improving.”
Penalty shout
Forest haven’t got the rub of the green with refereeing decisions on too many occasions since promotion back to the top tier. However, on Friday it was Leicester who argued they were hard done by.
The Foxes wanted a penalty in the second half of the game, at a time when the Reds were leading 2-1. The hosts felt Jamie Vardy was pulled back by Nikola Milenkovic in the area.
Referee Craig Pawson waved away the appeals. And his call was backed up by former official Dermot Gallagher in Sky Sports’ “Ref Watch” programme.
"Not for me,” Gallagher said of Vardy’s spot-kick shout. “He gets a little touch, but he catches his own ankle - that's what trips him up."
Pundit Stephen Warnock agreed, adding: "He (Milenkovic) might have just brushed Vardy and clipped his own heel, but it's very hard to get into this."
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Wood on fire
As Alan Shearer, the Premier League's record goalscorer, has noted, Chris Wood is in “the form of his life”. The New Zealander’s stats are certainly very impressive.
His brilliant brace against Leicester took him to seven goals for the Reds so far this season. He is now the club’s joint second-highest scorer in the Premier League, level with Stan Collymore on 22 goals and is only two behind Bryan Roy.
Yates admits Forest are “pretty happy” for the Reds forward to fly under the radar. But he received plenty of plaudits after Friday night’s showing.
Pundit Shearer named Wood in his Team of the Week for the Premier League, saying: “What a season he’s having!” He also plumped for Nuno as Manager of the Week, having made the team “so hard to beat”.
Troy Deeney picked Wood for his Team of the Week for the BBC. He said: “Big Chris still delivers. Look at the age bracket. Apparently now you only have to be 23 and all you can do is sprint and run, but this guy is showing it is good to have a little bit of experience and it is back-to-back times he has been the striker in our team.”
And Harry Redknapp also named Wood in his XI following the latest round of fixtures. He told BetVictor: “He's been on the scene for years and always chipped in for various teams now without ever really getting a lot of credit. He’s been fantastic not just this season, but from the minute Nuno Espirito Santo got the job.”
Redknapp also plumped for Yates in his XI, saying the midfielder has been “a dependable player for years” for the Reds. Deeney also included the Nigel Doughty Academy graduate, highlighting his “excellent” performance.
Golden boot race?
So given his fine form, is Wood in the race for the Premier League golden boot this season? Not according to the man himself.
He is only four behind Manchester City’s Erling Haaland in the battle to finish as top scorer. But the Reds ace feels the Norwegian will have the edge in the final reckoning.
"I just want to keep scoring as many as I can,” Wood told the BBC. “He's (Haaland) a very formidable man and he's probably going to score 30 goals this season. He's a very formidable man to chase.”
Nevertheless, Wood is feeling the benefit of tactical tweaks made by head coach Nuno. Always one to credit his teammates for creating chances for him, the 32-year-old says plenty of hard work has been done on the training pitch to improve Forest’s attacking threat.
“He's come in and put an emphasis on putting the ball in the box,” Wood said of Nuno. “He's worked on that in the training pitch."