Chris Wood has revealed he was “extremely gutted” to miss out on the play-offs at Leeds United last season.
The New Zealand international scored 30 goals in all competitions in the best campaign of his career before joining Burnley in the summer for a reported fee of £15million.
Wood had spent nine years, most of which were in the lower leagues, ahead of his big-money move and admits he had mixed emotions at the end of 2016-17.
“[I had] a great personal season but I was still extremely gutted we didn’t make the playoffs after all our hard work,” Wood told the New Zealand Herald. “But to end with 30 goals in a season and be top scorer in the Championship, a dream of mine, meant it was a season I can be proud of.”
Wood has has a good start at Burnley, scoring four goals from 10 matches, including strikes in each of his first games for the club.
OPINION
Leeds didn’t put up much of a fight to hold on to Wood in the summer, as they sold to the one Premier League club who really wanted him. How they are paying for that now. Wood’s replacement Pierre-Michel Lasogga has done a reasonable job, but he will do well to score half the 30 goals that the Kiwi banged in last season. Yes, Garry Monk set up his side specifically to get the best out of Wood, but how he repaid them with his clinical finishing and consistent excellence in and around the penalty box.