Former Players Commend Chris Wood’s Form and Traditional Striker Play at Nottingham Forest

Former winger Matt Jarvis and three-time Premier League winner Robert Huth have praised Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood’s form and the revival of the old-fashioned centre-forward. Speaking to Sportsworld on BBC World Service, Jarvis, who described Wood as a “winger’s dream,” said: “I used to love having someone you could cross the ball into and someone who is going to go and get on the end of it. “I think that’s exactly what he has at Forest. He’s got wingers he relies heavily on because he’s not going to take the ball, take three or four people on and put it into the top corner. He’s relying on people to put crosses into the box, and he’s got [Anthony] Elanga and [Callum] Hudson-Odoi doing that for him.“ Jarvis continued: “If you look back, since Nuno [Espírito Santo] took over as manager in December, I think only Haaland scored more goals which aren’t penalties, which is an incredible stat. “He’s really hitting a great vein of form, he’s enjoying himself and for me you can see they’re enjoying themselves. They’ve got an opportunity to score goals, they’ve taken it and now they’re riding that wave of enjoying the flow. “They can feel the results are coming, and I think he’s also having that run where he knows he’s going to get chances in the game and if he’s in the correct position he knows he can score goals. What a place to be in as a player.” Huth added: “I used to hate playing against an old-school number nine. I probably played against one of the best in [Didier] Drogba and Alan Shearer, you knew in the game, you knew the ball was going to come in the box and you’re having to defend.“I actually had Woody [Chris Wood] when I was at Leicester when he first came through, so I know exactly what he’s like. He’s always been a great finisher and always had really good movement in the box, but as the game developed into a different direction with a false number nine, he didn’t probably get the chance at other Premier League clubs that he should have had.”