Herald on Sunday

Burnley happy to let Wood travel

- Sonny Bill Williams By Michael Burgess By Michael Burgess

Burnley manager Sean Dyche admits that Chris Wood’s demanding travel schedule isn’t ideal — but says he will never dissuade the All Whites striker from representi­ng his country.

It’s an issue that is likely to come into sharper focus in the coming weeks, as the realities of the journey involved to face Peru next month hits home.

Clubs in the English Premier League have players drawn from all across the globe, but nowhere further away than New Zealand.

In the space of 12 days in November, Wood will have three long-haul trips. First there is the journey back to New Zealand, which takes the best part of 30 hours when transit times are factored in.

Then the expedition to Lima, which involves an 11- or 12-hour flight to Santiago or Buenos Aires respective­ly, then four or five hours to Peru. From there, back to England, probably via North America, and the best part of 20 hours in the air.

In the space of a fortnight Wood will have two high-intensity matches against Peru, as well as Burnley’s games against Southampto­n and Swansea, but Dyche said internatio­nal representa­tion

“We will certainly never stop anyone from playing for their country — that is one thing that is absolutely for sure,” Dyche said. “It is what it is. These days players get used to travelling, used to the different challenges going into Europe. Sure in Chris’s case it is obviously a lot further afield but he has done that many times and he will be used to it.

“The travelling side of things is not perfect but obviously people travel and the world has become a smaller place,” added Dyche.

Wood should cope, was but nonnegotia­ble. it’s a double commitment that can be hard to manage. From a distance it’s hard to understand the physical, mental and emotional pressures that come in the high-profile Premier League.

Wood, up until now, has managed to juggle club and country, allowing him to pass 50 internatio­nal caps at at the age of 25.

That might steadily become more difficult now he is in the Premier League, especially after the impressive start he has made at Turf Moor.

Wood has scored three crucial goals, which have directly earned Burnley five points, to propel the Clarets into the top half of the table. The Wellington Phoenix remain winless in the A-League — but surely a victory is not far away.

This narrow loss to Melbourne City continued a miserable record in the Victorian capital last night, where they have only won three matches from 26 attempts.

Ross McCormack’s spectacula­r 69th-minute long-range free kick was the difference, but it was a close-run thing. The visitors created plenty of chances, with Roy Krishna hitting the post and Andrija Kaluderovi­c failing to take a good second-half opportunit­y.

But on the evidence of the first three games, this is a significan­tly different Phoenix team than the often muddled outfit we saw last season.

There is a cohesion and structure to their play that hasn’t been seen for years, and they dominated possession for long periods in this game.

 ?? Photosport.nz ?? Chris Wood has quickly become an asset at Burnley.
Photosport.nz Chris Wood has quickly become an asset at Burnley.
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