Wood poised to return for Burnley

All Whites striker Chris Wood could be set for his first English Premier League game in 2018 after making his Burnley return in a training game.

The 26-year-old has missed the club’s last eight matches since picking up a knee injury last December.

But the Lancashire Telegraph reported that Wood came through 70 minutes of a 1-1 behind-closeddoors draw with Blackpool yesterday. Wood had a chance to score a second-half winner but his shot was blocked.

The Waikato-raised forward has not played in the EPL since hobbling off with a medial ligament strain in a 3-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in late December.

However, having proved his fitness, he may be in line for an EPL return against Southampton on Sunday.

Wood’s return would be a welcome boost for Burnley manager Shaun Dyche.

The New Zealander is still the club’s leading scorer with five goals since his $26.4 million move from Leeds United last August.

Burnley - seventh in the EPL standings - only expected Wood to be out for three weeks, but his knee has taken longer to heal.

Dyche told the Lancashire Telegraph last week that each player’s recovery from injury was different.

‘‘They’re humans aren’t they? One settles down quickly, one doesn’t. Medial ligament injuries usually settle down quickly, [Wood’s] hasn’t.

‘‘Each person will heal in different ways, that’s the undefinable. You can treat two bodies exactly the same and they react differently.

‘‘I was generally expecting it to be three weeks or so, now we’re at five or six weeks, which was unexpected, but they’re humans.’’

Burnley’s England goalkeeper Tom Heaton also got through the full 90 minutes of the practice game against Blackpool.