Chris Wood is edging closer to a first-team return for Nottingham Forest after recovering from knee surgery in December. The New Zealand striker, who scored 17 Premier League goals last season, has been building fitness and could feature in Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final first leg against Porto.
Forest manager Vítor Pereira confirmed Wood is available but urged caution: “He is available and I hope that he can help us in the games we need to face. We cannot expect 90 minutes, 90 minutes, 90 minutes; we need to manage him in the proper way.”
Wood’s potential return is a major boost for Forest, who have missed his presence in attack. Last season he scored more than a third of Forest’s league goals, and the team’s win percentage drops from 37% with him to 25% without. He made a goalscoring comeback for the under-21s last month after 215 days without a senior goal.
Pereira, returning to Porto where he won back-to-back titles as coach, acknowledged the challenge ahead: “It will be a big challenge. We will see a fantastic atmosphere, for sure, and we’ll be in red – I think it’s the first time I will be red in this stadium.”
Forest travel to Portugal hoping to build on their 3-0 win at Tottenham before the international break, with the tie’s second leg at the City Ground next week. The club are four matches from a potential Europa League final.
