The Nottingham Forest striker was still a raw-boned, angular 19-year-old figuring things out at West Bromwich Albion when Curtis Davies first met him.

In August 2011, Wood joined Davies on loan at Birmingham City, who were trying to recover from their Premier League relegation the previous season and pull off an unexpected Europa League run.

In 29 appearances for the Blues, the New Zealander would score 11 goals, including the game-winning goal away at Club Brugge, making Birmingham the first English team to overcome the proud Belgians on their home field. over the City Ground, he also scored two goals in a 3-1 victory and all three in a 3-0 triumph over Millwall.

With Cameron Jerome, Marlon King, and Nikola Zigic already in the team, he was sent right out to Bristol City after making just 13 of his 23 Championship games as a starter.

But Davies will never forget those few months of training and playing with Wood. Although Wood is still plundering, the 39-year-old has hung up his boots and is transitioning into punditry.

Nottingham Forest is still leading the line, and he does it so well that only Erling Haaland has more Premier League goals than him, and neither Liverpool’s Mo Salah nor the legendary Manchester City striker can equal his conversion rate.

Davies has been impressed and a little taken aback, like the rest of us. He told NottinghamshireLive, “I think the thing you can say about Woody is that he was a player who was determined to make the most of everything that he had.”

“He was going to attempt to realise his potential, whether that meant putting in more time in the gym or shooting more after practice. That was already somewhat ingrained in him at that young age.

Perhaps people didn’t think he had what it took to make the move from a Championship striker to the Premier League because, while he is by no means unconventional, he is simply an old-fashioned player who people in this day and age may despise because he is a dedicated centre forward who will contribute just as well on defence as he will on attack.

He is clearly a player with good aerial skills and a powerful physical presence, therefore many teams these days aren’t crossing the ball as frequently, as if he loses strength there.

On the other hand, he clearly joined Sean Dyche’s club when he moved to the Premier League, so in the end, it was arguably the right player for the right team in terms of the fundamentals of hard effort and crosses into the box, which were ideal for him.

“He had his best period at Burnley in January 2022, just as his contract was about to expire, and Newcastle took advantage of a weakness to essentially harm Burnley and get him in.” He may have only managed one or two goals per season for them, in my opinion, but Burnley suffered more harm because of it.

When Newcastle’s takeover was complete and supporters were hoping to see players like Kylian Mbappe and Neymar at St. James’ Park, they paid £25 million for a target man/center forward. But at the time, they were having trouble in the Premier League, and there was real worry because Callum Wilson was hurt.

The Toon Army was probably not hoping for a return of four goals in 35 league games when Saudi money came on Tyneside. Following promotion the previous summer, he was loaned to Forest a year later to help with their safety bid.

Davies went on: “I believe he may have known in his own mind that he was going to take this plunge. He was on an excellent contract and would still have a market because he had only been signed there for six months, where you can get another Premier League team, so if it works, it works. If not, well.

That team was and still is Forest. “That’s not to say it’s been easy sailing; he’s had his share of injury issues and has been sidelined by other attackers’ form. However, he’s simply reached a new level this season.