Sean Dyche said Nottingham Forest’s surprise achievers are reaping a reward for bringing Chris Wood back to life as he paid tribute to his former Burnley forward for answering his critics.
Wood has scored 10 Premier League goals, a total exceeded only by Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland, Cole Palmer and Alexander Isak, to help Forest go third with their Boxing Day win over Tottenham.
Dyche made the New Zealand international Burnley’s record buy when he paid Leeds £15m for the striker in 2017 and Wood went on to become the Clarets’ record scorer in the Premier League with 49 goals.
He now has the same status with Forest after proving prolific for Nuno Espirito Santo, but only after a time at Newcastle where he only got five goals in 39 appearances and a slow start to his life at the City Ground.
And Dyche, whose Everton team host Wood’s Forest on Sunday, was quick to praise the high-flying side, saying: “I have been impressed by what they’ve been doing – very organised, working to plan the counter and break and defend well. They’ve done that very well. They’ve brought to life Woody, who I know well, and the goals he’s been scoring, and they’ve turned into a very strong outfit.”
Dyche sees similarities in how Nuno is using Wood and how he did during their time together at Turf Moor as he said the striker’s attitude is a key factor in his revival.
“Possibly his maturity in the game, his knowledge of the game,” he added. “He’s got a different format they’re working to there which seems to be to his liking. He’s got wide players, they’ve got a strength behind them, and they get the ball up to him quickly.
“That seems to be a thing that’s good for him and not massively dissimilar to what we were trying to achieve at Burnley. But yeah, I think a lot of credit to him, credit to his professionalism to keep on top of himself. He had a quiet spell when he first went there and [there were] a few question marks over him. That can happen with strikers. He’s had that before and he’s come through it. Certainly a very good player, and someone I’ve got a lot of respect for.”
