Teenage All White striker Chris Wood was an unused sub in West Brom's 1-1 friendly against Osasuna overnight, and appears to be caught in a frustrating situation at The Hawthorns. The 2009/10 WBA Young Player of the Year has outgrown Reserve and Academy team football, and after a handful of cameos for West Brom's first team last season and an impressive World Cup he is ready for regular first team football.
WBA manager Roberto Di Matteo is a big fan of the 18 year old striker, but - not surprisingly - is reluctant to throw him into the Premier League cauldron just yet. It looked very much like Wood would be loaned out this season, with a number of League 1 and Championship sides very interested in securing his services. Barnsley seemed the frontrunners, with Wood and his agent apparently spotted in the stands at one of their pre-season matches.
Unfortunately, injuries within the WBA squad and a failure to bring any new strikers to the club during the off-season have left Di Matteo nervous about letting Wood go, as he has told the media a couple of weeks back. Presently, Wood sits about 4th in the WBA striking hierarchy behind the likes of Roman Bednar, Ishmael Miller and Simon Cox. But with WBA expected to play with only one striker in the Premier League Wood may be battling for game time.
Of course, not a disaster to have this sort of conundrum at 18 years old!
No comments:
Post a Comment