Chris Wood has been in red-hot form for Nottingham Forest in the first half of the campaign.
The Kiwi hitman now has nine goals in 13 Premier League appearances for the Tricky Trees this term, and is well on the way to bettering last season's tally of 14. What's more, against Ipswich Town last weekend, the striker equalled Nottingham Forest's all-time Premier League scoring record (24), held by 1990s hero Brian Roy.
Another of Forest's heroes from that decade, Stan Collymore (22 in 37 PL appearances) has been impressed with Wood, but still doesn't believe the club's current star is the best striker they've had since he himself left for Liverpool in 1995.
'Chris Wood has always been a handful'
"Forest have had some very good strikers down the years," Collymore tells FourFourTwo on behalf of NewBettingSites.uk. "Pierre van Hooijdonk came after me and, with the greatest respect to Chris, I wouldn’t put him in the same category as Pierre.
"Pierre scored goals left, right and centre – left foot, right foot, free-kicks, you name it. Nottingham Forest have settled down after that crazy period of transfer activity they went through two or three years ago and I think that has helped everyone."
"Chris has always been a handful," Collymore continues. "Particularly at Burnley and now, thankfully, again at Forest. When you have pace down the wings and players who are willing to put balls into the box, he is very effective. He’s also a hard worker and a runner. He’ll gallop after balls played in behind and make a nuisance of himself.
"At Newcastle United, that didn’t happen enough, but it’s happening now at Forest and I’m delighted for him. He’s a fantastic character. People talk about him breaking the club’s Premier League scoring record but it didn’t actually take much as I was only there for a season and Brian Roy was only there for two seasons.
"But his return in terms of goals has been very good. He’s an old-school striker – if you play it up to him, he’ll make it stick and if you get balls into the box, he’ll get on the end of them. It’s just desserts for a really good pro and a really good guy. Him and his wife are settled and happy in the city and he’s enjoying himself.
"So, no, I wouldn’t say he’s the best Forest striker since me – that would have to be Van Hooijdonk. But, look, if he can get Forest up near the European spaces this season, that’s a debate I’m willing to reopen."
Wood, 32, currently has 18 months left to run on his contract at Nottingham Forest and would have no shortage of suitors if he were to ask for a move at the end of the season.
But, in this kind of form, it wouldn't be a surprise if manager Nuno Espirito Santo looked to tie him down to a longer-term deal in the New Year.
