Wood Eyeing Return

The January signing from West Bromwich Albion netted seven times in six games before a knock picked up in training ruled him out of City’s last two fixtures against Peterborough and Huddersfield.

However speaking before a signing session attended by over 2,500 Blue Army, the 21-year-old New Zealand international revealed he is hoping to be fit again in time for Tuesday’s tie with Chris Powell’s Addicks.

“The injury is coming along nicely,” said Wood. “I’ve still got a few days to get it right, and hopefully I can get it right for Tuesday.

“If everything goes according to plan with treatment and all that then there’s a chance that I could be involved.

“I think it’s always going to be tough when you come back from an injury, but it’s just one of those things that you have to deal with. All footballers go through it.

“It has been difficult [being injured]. Every footballer likes to play, they hate being injured, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

“I’ll go back out there once I’m fit, hopefully do my job and link up with whoever is up front with me, and we can do what we normally do and keep the goals coming.”

A phenomenal turnout of City fans at the Fanstore for the signing session on Friday afternoon underlined the important role the supporters have to play on Tuesday night when the Foxes look to bounce back with three points.

Wood, Wes Morgan, David Nugent, and Kasper Schmeichel all stayed more than two hours longer than the scheduled hour-long signing session to sign autographs, and the striker says the fans’ support will make all the difference against Charlton.

He added: “It’s lovely to see the turnout. They are a lovely bunch of fans and it’s nice to see them coming out supporting us.

“They are the 12th man for us. We’re out on the pitch doing all we can and when we have them behind us we go up another gear and reach another level. It’s lovely to have them.

“It’s going to be a big game for us. It’s anther step in our push for promotion and it’ll be nice to get back to winning ways if we can - that’s what we’re aiming for.

“The message [from the manager] is just to keep going. It’s not like we didn’t play well [in previous games], we did play well and created chances – it’s just one of those things where if we take the chances next time, we’ll win the game.

“Charlton are a very strong side though. I played them earlier in the season when I was at Millwall and they were strong.

“It’ll be a difficult test for us, but hopefully a good test.”