Chris Wood admits he has to take every opportunity at Newcastle United due to the competition up front with Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson. The January signing netted his first Premier League goal of the season as the Magpies recorded a comfortable victory at Southampton on Sunday.
Wood played an important role as Eddie Howe's side pulled clear of relegation danger in the second-half of last season. However, the New Zealand international struggled for goals and has so far been used mainly from the bench this term.
Isak and Wilson have so far led the line for Newcastle in the Premier League, although the number nine was withdrawn at half-time at St Mary's after suffering with illness during the week. Wood believes competition for places comes with the territory of playing for a 'very big club', and hopes his goalscoring cameo has done enough to earn a starting spot in the near future.
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He told NUFC TV: "We're at a very big club, and that's what you're always going to have, you're going to have competition. You have to bide your time sometimes, wait for an opportunity and try and take it. Thankfully I could do that today, I just need to keep that going if and when I get those chances."
Newcastle have two fixtures remaining before the World Cup break, with attention now turning to a midweek Carabao Cup tie against Crystal Palace. This is followed by a home clash with Chelsea, and Wood hopes to give Howe food for thought with a midweek opportunity.
He added: "I want to keep my run going, I'll be looking to start on Wednesday and hopefully continue. It's a chance for a lot of us boys that haven't played a lot of minutes to show our stuff, and hopefully to put an impression in the gaffer's mind to know when we're called upon, we're ready."
