Underrated Wood’s consistent goals can fire Burnley to safety

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Think of the best strikers in the Premier League over the last few years. Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy usually spring to mind.

Burnley’s Chris Wood is not one of those, but you would be foolish to underestimate his contribution in that time. The club have never paid more for a player than the £15million they spent on Wood to bring him in from Leeds United in August 2017, and he has repaid that fee handsomely.

Look at his goal records from his previous seasons: 10, 10, 12 and 14. Not blockbuster numbers, but Wood is one of only six players to have managed at least 10 goals in the past four seasons. It is that kind of consistency which Burnley manager Sean Dyche values so highly from his players in general, so Wood fits into that pattern seamlessly.

Saturday’s goal was his third of this season, as he cushioned a header into the bottom corner to put Burnley 2-1 up after Ben Mee had cancelled out Christian Benteke’s opener.

After Benteke got his second and Marc Guehi put Palace back in front four minutes before half-time, Burnley needed a superb 49th-minute volley from Maxwel Cornet to take a point.

Wood will be hoping to reach double figures again this term to pull the team away from trouble. He turns 30 next month and has the right blend to help his side. A very effective Premier League performer, the New Zealand international knows his game and knows the job he has to do.

At 6ft 3in, he is strong in the air and standing up close to him, he would not look out of place in the All Blacks pack, but he is a good finisher on the deck as well, as he showed with his recent goal at home to Brentford.

In previous seasons, Dyche has used him in a pair, most notably with Ashley Barnes, but in recent games Wood has been employed as a lone striker, with Cornet given licence to float around in the space behind him.

Wood rarely generates the big headlines, but he is only three goals away from becoming New Zealand’s all-time leading scorer, too.

That could come in 2022, in a year in which dragging Burnley to safety here and taking the All Whites to the World Cup will be his overriding aims.