Wood wants Kiwis to chop down Aussies in Soccer Ashes showdown

Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood is relishing New Zealand's clash with Australia in Tuesday's long-overdue Soccer Ashes encounter.

The neighbouring foes will lock horns many miles from home, with Brentford's Gtech Community Stadium hosting the latest renewal of a historic rivalry.

And the Soccer Ashes trophy — created in 1923 but seemingly lost forever in 1954 — will be on the line for the first time in 69 years after recently being found in the garage of Australian football's former chief, Sydney Story.

Kiwi marksman Wood, who has netted 160 goals in English football as well as an impressive 33 in 70 international appearances, cannot wait to lead his nation out in West London.

Explaining the contest's significance exclusively to LiveScore, Wood said: "I think the easiest thing to compare it to would be England vs Scotland over here. 

"It's a great sporting rivalry and now we have this Ashes trophy, it adds an even more competitive edge because we'll be playing each other for it every year."

Despite being his nation's all-time top scorer, Wood has yet to bag against the Socceroos — something he is desperate to change on Tuesday.

He explained: "It would be lovely to score against them. I think it's three or four times I've played them so far in my career and I've not managed it yet.

"I was a little bit unlucky with an injury in our last meeting but I'd certainly love to get on the scoresheet. 

"But as long as we win, that'll do me."

Pulling up Trees

Wood has been with Nottingham Forest since January, having arrived from Newcastle in a loan deal that has since become permanent.

Injury disrupted the 31-year-old's initial months at the City Ground and now he finds himself competing for a starting spot with in-form Nigerian striker Taiwo Awoniyi — a battle he is enjoying.

Wood said: "Obviously from a personal perspective, I'd love to be getting more minutes but I'll just keeping working hard to get myself back in that team. 

"T [Awoniyi] has had the shirt recently and deservedly so, because he's playing really well, so I'll keep trying to push him hard in training and help him raise his level even higher.

"I'd like to think he feels the same with me. There's no bad feeling about who starts and who comes on — we all respect the manager's decision and want to see each other do well."

Wood found himself back in Steve Cooper's XI against Crystal Palace last Saturday after Awoniyi suffered a groin injury which will reportedly sideline him for a month.

Yet the former Leeds ace knows he will still have to fight hard for his place. 

He added: "We also have Divock [Origi] hoping to get minutes too and other players who can play up front.

"Between us we all want to be playing but we know we have to be patient for opportunities sometimes.

"Our main aim is to just keep progressing. The owner is big on that. He wants the club to keep moving forward so we're just trying to improve on last year.

"More points, more goals scored, more clean sheets — that's what we've talked about within the group. 

"If we can sneak into the top 10, that's great but the main thing is progression."

Tickets to the Soccer Ashes game between Australia v New Zealand at Brentford are available here.