Chris Wood looking to build on 'unusual stat' after outperforming Erling Haaland and Mo Salah

Chris Wood will be “overjoyed” if he can maintain his stunning shot conversion rate until the end of the season.

And the Kiwi star has revealed his Nottingham Forest manager has given him the confidence to break his Premier League scoring record. The Forest striker is the fourth top scorer in the top flight this season with 18 goals behind Mo Salah, Alexander Isak and Erling Haaland.

But no-one can beat his strike rate of converting 38.3% of his chances this season of players taking more than four shots. Salah has scored 25 times but at a rate of 25.51%. According to Opta, only Dimitar Berbatov in 2011-12 had a higher rate with 44% since records began.

Wood said: “I want to show that this kind of unusual statistic can last - it motivates me. I am very proud of my conversion rate and if I can keep it close to 40% after the final match, on May 25, I will be overjoyed. In a certain way, stats are there to be broken, like records, and it is like that that we write history.

“I understood very early, without the data, that the majority of goals were scored in the six-yard box. That is where I try to spend a lot of time, and where I look, when the chance presents itself, to hit the ball without controlling it to surprise the keeper.”

But his strike from the edge of the box against Fulham earlier this month, after turning two defenders, showed how his game and confidence have developed. “Absolutely,” he told L’Equipe. “Until recently, in this situation, I would not have turned towards goal like I did at Fulham - I would have waited for my team-mates to get to me.

"Because at the moment I got the ball, the chances of scoring were extremely low. But when you have confidence, and when they give you 50cms of space, you try your luck.”

Can Chris Wood fire Nottingham Forest to Champions League qualification? Have your say in the comments section

Wood, 33, admitted the 2-1 defeat at Craven Cottage was “frustrating” because he had so few chances. “When I was younger, and I faced this type of situation, I would drop back to get involved in the game. But with experience, I have learned that it is a bad sign to send to your team-mates. As a No.9, you have to be patient and believe in their ability to put you in scoring positions.”

The former Brighton, Leicester, Leeds, Burnley and Newcastle striker praised the play of Anthony Elanga, Morgan Gibbs-White and Callum Hudson-Odoi - and the man management of Nuno Espirito Santo.

“From his first match (Forest v Bournemouth 23 December 2023), he picked me as a starter, then he developed a style of play which suits my strengths,” said Wood. “With time, I have learned that a manager can tell you what he wants but in the end, it is his decisions that speak the most. And Nuno has proved to me by his actions that he believed in me.”

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