(Credit: Imago, Hasan Karim, Breaking Media)

Evan Shaw

Fri 27 March 2026 11:45, UK

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Nottingham Forest’s hopes of securing their Premier League status for next season are set to get a huge shot in the arm with Chris Wood stepping up his recovery again on Friday.

The striker hasn’t featured for the Reds since 18 October, with many at the City Ground expecting that he would be sidelined until the end of the campaign with his knee injury.

However, that now looks set to change imminently, with the New Zealand international set to feature in the Reds’ B-team fixture against Northampton Town on Friday.

Wood played 45 minutes for the U21s in their win over Newcastle on 20 March, but he is set to take another step towards his big return with up to an hour of action planned on Friday.

Nottingham Forest’s key injury concerns have badly hindered their performance on the pitch this season, with Wood’s goals sorely missed throughout the campaign.

Chris Wood return date set

Forest gave their hopes of surviving relegation a huge lift when they won 3-0 away at Tottenham last weekend, and their chances of beating the drop are about to be boosted again without them even playing this weekend.

The Reds’ players have broken up for the March international break, and when they return to club duties again next week, they are likely to be joined by Wood.

Forest’s talisman is now entering the final stages of his lengthy injury lay-off, with the final steps in his recovery seeing him gradually build up his minutes and regain his match sharpness.

Provided that everything goes to plan in his B-team appearance on Friday, then the intention is for the frontman to return to Vitor Pereira’s first-team squad for the trip to Porto on 9 April, according to John Percy.

That is a crucial game in Forest’s season, as they travel to face the Portuguese giants with the aim of bringing a lead back to the City Ground for the all-important second leg.

How pivotal has Wood’s absence been for Forest?

Wood has been back in Forest training since the middle of March, and fans have eagerly been counting down the days until his return.

The importance of the absence of the Reds’ 20-goal man from last season cannot be underestimated, as they surely wouldn’t find themselves in such a precarious position had he been fit.

Only the bottom club Wolves have scored fewer goals in the Premier League than Pereira’s men this season, while Morgan Gibbs-White is the only member of the squad to have surpassed the three-goal mark in the league.

Wood’s 20 league strikes in 2024-25 came from an expected goals total of just 13.4, which highlights just how clinical he can be in front of goal.

Without him, the East Midlands outift have lacked the firepower to truly pull themselves away from the bottom three, as they have continually been unable to build upon positive results.

It is highly likely that Forest’s season would have played out totally differently had Wood been able to play more of a role, but all they can hope now is that he is ready to hit the ground running and fire them to safety.