Chris Wood will miss Nottingham Forest’s FA Cup quarter-final against Brighton after sustaining an injury with New Zealand, Nuno Espírito Santo has said.
Wood has been in excellent form with 18 goals in the Premier League, where Forest sit third as they close in on Champions League qualification. He scored a hat-trick when Forest thrashed Brighton 7-0 in the league last month.
The 33-year-old helped New Zealand qualify for the 2026 World Cup during the international break, getting a hat-trick against Fiji in a 7-0 demolition, but the captain limped off during Monday’s win over New Caledonia.
“He has been to a specialist for a scan,” Nuno said in advance of Saturday’s game. “We will wait on the information and see. He will not be available for this game. He felt a kick really hard on his hip so there is pain there.”
Although Wood has yet to score in the FA Cup, he scored penalties in their shootout wins over Exeter and Ipswich.
Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White did not play for England against Albania and Latvia despite a late call-up but Nuno said: “He doesn’t have to prove anybody wrong. This is not the state of mind that he should have. He has to compete and play and give his teammates and Nottingham Forest everything he has. Things will come naturally.”
