'He's got a responsibility' - Sinclair tears into Wood after statement ahead of Leeds v Sunderland
By Danny Wright
Trevor Sinclair has blasted Leeds striker Chris Wood for pulling himself out of the squad to play Sunderland on Saturday evening.
The 25-year-old has been offered a new contract at Elland Road but it seems that his head has been turned by widespread reports of bids from Premier League side Burnley.
The New Zealand international revealed that he is in talks about a move to the top-flight and that his head wasn't in the right place to play in the clash at the Stadium of Light.
Sinclair, 44, thinks that Wood has the "responsibility" to make himself available for the match to his team-mates and the supporters of Leeds, who will be going up to Sunderland on Saturday disappointed to not be seeing their star man lead the attack.
"I think he's too honest. He's employed at Leeds, it's a huge football club and he should be privileged and feel pride to play for them," said the former England international, as shown on Match of the Day's official Twitter account on Saturday.
"Because there's interest from a Premier League club he's decided that his heads not in the right place and he doesn't want to play for Leeds.
"They've got a massive game away against Sunderland, they were in and around going up in the play-offs last season. He's their top scorer, he's got a responsibility to his team-mates, to his manager, to his fans to play that game.
"For him to step down, I think that's poor."
Wood scored 30 goals across all competitions for Leeds last season as Garry Monk almost led the Yorkshire side to a spot in the Championship play-offs.
He opened his account this term with a goal in the opening day win against Bolton, but he, like his team-mates, have failed to find the net since in the league in goalless draws with Preston and Fulham.
We’ve launched a << BREAKING NEWS FEED>> exclusively for your club. ‘Like Us’ on Facebook by clicking here if you want 24/7 updates on all Leeds breaking news.