A thigh injury to All Whites striker Chris Wood will make for a nervous wait by national team coaching staff as his Nottingham Forest club evaluates how serious it is.
Wood (31) is due to head to New Zealand in little over a week to play two games against China, in Auckland and Wellington, during the March international window.
Wood was forced to leave the pitch only six minutes after coming off Forest’s bench in their weekend English Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur, which Forest lost 3-1.
Head coach Steve Cooper told the Nottingham Post:
“Woody was just so unfortunate. He goes on, and in his first moment in the game, he gets a really bad knock to his thigh which really swells up instantly like you wouldn’t believe.
“He tried to carry on with it, but it was just impossible.
“When he came to the halfway line and I saw it, I knew he wouldn’t be able to carry on, even though he tried. That was really unfortunate.”
Main photo: Chris Wood … ‘bad knock to his thigh’.
Mata continues scoring form
Recalled All Whites forward Max Mata kept up his good start to the new League of Ireland season, scoring from the spot in stoppage time to earn his Sligo Rovers side a 2-2 draw against Cork City.
Mata has scored four goals in Rovers’ five games.
Fixtures
Game to be played on Thursday March 23, 2023
Gates open at 2.30pm
New Zealand U-22 v China PR
Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, 3.30pm (NZT)
All Whites v China PR
Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, 7pm (NZT)
Game to be played on Sunday March 26, 2023
New Zealand U-22 v China PR
Sky Stadium, Wellington, 12.30pm (NZT)
All Whites v China PR
Sky Stadium, Wellington, 4pm (NZT)
Tickets
Tickets are available from $20 to $80 (adult) and $10 to $40 (children aged 2-14).
National squads
All Whites
Kyle Adams (0 caps) San Diego Loyal, USA
Kosta Barbarouses (52 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Joe Bell (12 caps) Brøndby IF, Denmark
Michael Boxall (40 caps) Minnesota United, USA
Liberato Cacace (12 caps) Empoli, Italy
Callan Elliot* (0 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Matthew Garbett (12 caps) NAC Breda, Netherlands (on loan from Torino)
Alex Greive (7 caps) St Mirren, Scotland
Cam Howieson (16 caps) Auckland City FC, New Zealand
Dane Ingham (12 caps) Newcastle Jets, Australia
Eli Just (13 caps) AC Horsens, Denmark
Clayton Lewis (21 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Stefan Marinovic (30 caps) Unattached
Max Mata (1 cap) Sligo Rovers, Ireland
Callum McCowatt (10 caps) FC Helsingør, Denmark
Tim Payne (30 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Nando Pijnaker (11 caps) Sligo Rovers, Ireland
Marco Rojas (43 caps) Colo-Colo, Chile
Alex Rufer (7 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Oli Sail (6 caps) Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand
Tommy Smith (49 caps) Colchester United, England
Marko Stamenic (11 caps) FC Copenhagen, Denmark
Chris Wood (70 caps) Nottingham Forest, England
Deklan Wynne (15 caps) Charleston Battery, USA
*Debut All Whites squad
Interim head coach: Darren Bazeley
U-22s
Adam Supyk (Eastern Suburbs, New Zealand)
Alex Paulsen (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Ben Old (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Campbell Strong (Seattle University, USA)
Fin Conchie (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Finn Linder (Vancouver Whitecaps, Canada)
Finn Surman (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Isaac Hughes (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Jay Herdman (Vancouver Whitecaps, Canada)
Jesse Randall (Charleston Battery, USA)
Joe Lee (Auckland City FC, New Zealand)
Kees Sims (Ljungskile SK, Sweden)
Lukas Kelly-Heald (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Nathan Lobo (Auckland City FC, New Zealand)
Noah Karunaratne (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Oscar Browne (Western Springs, New Zealand)
Oskar van Hattum (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Riley Bidois (Dandenong City SC, Australia)
Ronan Wynne (Denver University, USA)
Sam Sutton (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand)
Scott Morris (Christchurch United, New Zealand)
Zac Zoricich (Central Coast Mariners, Australia)
Coach: Paul Temple (Wellington Phoenix academy)
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