It’s child’s play as Chris Wood scores the winner for Forest

All Whites striker Chris Wood scored Nottingham Forest’s winner in their 1-0 win over Crystal Palace this morning.

Days after New Zealand scored in a 4-0 win over Malaysia in Auckland, Wood was back in goal in the 65th minute with a low shot from outside the box that beat the Palace goalkeeper » Dean Henderson.

Wood celebrated by putting a ball under his shirt and sucking his thumb to signify his wife Emma’s pregnancy.

“It’s been 12 or 13 weeks – we found out we were pregnant, or my wife is pregnant, so it’s fantastic that hopefully we can welcome a little girl into our world,” Wood told Sky broadcaster afterwards.

Asked what he was thinking when the ball hit him, Wood replied: “(I was) just trying to hit the target and anything can happen. I had a couple of chances in the first half, but they didn’t go my way… I have to keep trying and, fortunately, they came true.”

Traveling around the world for New Zealand’s match at North Harbor Stadium didn’t faze Wood, with the striker saying: “It’s what I love to do, play for my national team. We were lucky that the start was on Monday evening, so the journey back was a little easier and we had a lot more time to recover. It’s part and parcel of football, you just have to accept it.”

Wood’s goal helped Forest move into eighth place in the Premier League table.

It was a precious home win that was dramatic.

The club’s owner Evangelos Marinakis was recently accused of misconduct by the English Football Association following Forest’s 1-0 defeat to Fulham last month in a match that was decided by a controversial penalty awarded by VAR.

He was suspended for five matches, and manager Nuno Espirito Santo recently received a separate punishment when he was fined $100,000 and suspended for two games after being sent off in his side’s 2-2 draw with Brighton last month. He admitted using abusive and/or insulting words towards a match official.

Asked if Santo’s absence on the touchline had affected the team, Wood said: “No, definitely not. He has as much influence as possible in the dressing room before the game and after the game. He gets us ready for the training field and that’s the main thing.”