Chris Wood and the scoring stat that puts him above Mohamed Salah and Cole Palmer

Who out of Mohamed Salah, Cole Palmer and Chris Wood has scored the most non-penalty goals since the start of the 2023-24 Premier League season?

You can have three guesses.

The fact that the answer is Wood might surprise a few people — outside of those who regularly watch Nottingham Forest, at least.

The New Zealand international has now scored 13 goals in 19 Premier League appearances since the appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo last December. More broadly, he has 16 non-penalty goals since the start of last season, which — at the time of writing — is one more than Liverpool superstar Salah, two more than England prodigy Palmer, and a better return than plenty of far more high-profile forwards.

The only players with more non-penalty goals in that time have played at least 800 more minutes.

The sight of Wood netting his second goal of the season — as he strained every one of his neck muscles to power a header back across goal and beyond Wolves keeper Sam Johnstone — could not have come with better timing.

Forest had what was their best transfer window since returning to the Premier League. It was sensible, it was structured and it left Nuno with a squad that looks far stronger than the one that secured survival. The club strengthened in defence, in midfield and down the flanks, adding nine new additions to their squad. They have given Nuno a significant number of options.

The most significant frustration will be that they did not land another forward option. It was not for a lack of trying. Forest cast their net wide.

A fee of around £30million was agreed with Arsenal for Eddie Nketiah, but personal terms could not be negotiated with the player, who perhaps had half an eye on interest from Crystal Palace and the opportunity to stay in London.

Forest tried repeatedly to agree a deal with Feyenoord for Santiago Gimenez, only for that deal to ultimately collapse because the Mexico international was not certain about joining.

Forest offered Eintracht Frankfurt £20million for Egyptian international Omar Marmoush, but the German club wanted closer to £28million, which Forest felt was overpriced. Offers were also made for Evanilson of Porto and Brentford’s Yoane Wissa.

These were all exciting targets.

And, in comparison, when Forest signed Wood — initially on loan from Newcastle in January 2023 — there was a collective shrug of the shoulders in Nottingham. The former Leeds and Burnley man was not seen as an inspiring signing. Again, outside of Forest, there was also some amusement when it emerged that the striker would only have to make three appearances, of any kind, for a clause to be activated to make the move permanent, for the princely sum of £15million.

But nobody is laughing now.

In the likes of Ramon Sosa, Jota Silva, Elliot Anderson and James Ward-Prowse, Forest have added to the group of players — already including new England international Morgan Gibbs-White, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga — they possess with guile, creativity and the ability to get fans off their seats.

Wood may not possess the same electric ability to excite. He is certainly no Salah or Palmer. More often than not, he is a finisher, rather than a creator. But his qualities are no less valuable to Forest. Only the narrowest of offside decisions — albeit a correct one — and a superb save from Johnstone, denied him a second goal.

Jonjo Shelvey, who Forest signed from Newcastle during the same window as Wood, has long departed to Turkey, having made no impact in the East Midlands. It is no exaggeration to say that, until January at least, Wood will remain one of the most important players in the squad.

Wood is part of the leadership group at the club; he is among the clutch of players who guide the dressing room.

He had an influence in the signing of Anderson, who called his former Newcastle teammate for guidance on what life is like at the City Ground, while deciding whether to join. When Anderson subsequently arrived in Nottingham, Wood was among the first to put his arm around the shoulders of the 21-year-old midfielder and help him settle in, as he tried to acclimatise not just in new surroundings, but also the idea of leaving his hometown club, where he had been since he was a boy.

Taiwo Awoniyi, Forest’s other natural striker, scored the goals that kept Forest in the Premier League in 2022-23, finishing with six in four games as survival was secured under Steve Cooper. But last season was disrupted for him by a troublesome groin injury, which sidelined him more than once.

And this summer, Awoniyi unfortunately missed a period of pre-season because of a family issue, and is still playing catch-up now. Forest are aware that what Awoniyi needs is a run of games to help him regain the sharpness and fitness that he needs.

That will be a headache that is difficult to solve, because leaving Wood out of the side now would simply be foolish — if not impossible — on current form. He has established himself as Forest’s primary option up front.

And Wood too might have missed a large chunk of pre-season, had he not shown his dedication to Forest. The 32-year-old was called up to the New Zealand side for the Paris Olympics. His country were desperate to call upon his experience and knowhow but, after discussions with Nuno, he explained to coach Darren Bazeley that it was more important for him to remain with Forest, to prepare for the new campaign.

“I was aware this was the opportunity for him to be involved in the biggest sporting event in the world, the Olympics,” said Nuno. “That shows the commitment he has to us. It is not just about his goals, his work for the team is amazing.”

Forest will want to wrap both of them in cotton wool, until January — and the opportunity to sign a third striker — arrives. They will hope Wood continues to thrive.

Nuno is frequently asked what he has done to transform the fortunes of a player who scored only three goals in the first half of last season, prior to his appointment.

He rarely gives much away, other than to say that he always likes to make his players believe how good they are. Since December, Wood’s biggest success has been how emphatically he has convinced others of how good he is.

(Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)