Paul Fennessy

CHRIS WOOD and Evan Ferguson may be at opposite ends of their career, but the two footballers have plenty in common.

Both are tall, physically imposing strikers with an eye for goal.

Both play for Premier League clubs considered lesser lights that have been exceeding expectations.

Both made their senior debuts at the precocious age of 14, which some around them deemed too young, and swiftly became indispensable players for their national teams.

Both are from countries, Ireland and New Zealand, that could not be considered footballing hotbeds unless you were referring to rugby football.

And both come from sporting families — Ferguson’s father Barry is a former professional footballer, while Wood’s sister Chelsey is an ex-New Zealand underage international.

There are, of course, significant differences too.

People within the game will tell you that Ferguson has a higher ceiling than Wood.

There is a reason why clubs of the calibre of Chelsea and Arsenal have been linked with the Meath native.

Yet so far Ferguson has had a season to forget while Wood has experienced one he’ll always remember.

Hampered by injuries, the 20-year-old has managed only one goal in 14 appearances in all competitions for Brighton this season and started just twice in the Premier League.

By contrast, Wood’s clinical finish against Liverpool on Tuesday night was his 19th goal in 27 appearances overall.

Only three players — Mo Salah, Erling Haaland and Cole Palmer — have scored more in the Premier League this season.

Wood, like Ferguson, emerged as a teenage prodigy in his home country, scoring on his debut in the NRFL Division 2 in 2006, the same year the Irishman turned two years old.

But this overnight success took longer to establish himself in England.

Wood joined West Brom after a successful trial in 2009 and made his first-team debut that same year, coming off the bench at 17 just like Ferguson did, making him just the fifth New Zealander to play in the Premier League.

The 20-year-old Irishman has already made 59 top-flight appearances, but Wood would play just two more Premier League games for the club and spent much of the ensuing decade outside of the top flight.

Wood made his Premier League debut as a 17-year-old for West Brom. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Wood managed just one goal in 18 appearances for the Baggies in his first year of sustained senior football in the Championship.

He went on loan six times during this period (one League One club and five Championship teams). In only one of these loan spells did he reach double figures in terms of goals while some were forgettable (0 goals in seven appearances for Barnsley, three in 19 for Bristol City).

An impressive 11 in 19 for Millwall did earn Wood a permanent move to Leicester City, as he finally ended five years largely on the periphery at the Hawthorns.

Wood’s time at the Foxes is perhaps best remembered for a Championship playoff semi-final where he was handed a start as future England stars Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy were left on the bench.

But after 14 goals in 53 appearances, Wood was let go by the soon-to-be Premier League champions.

He was initially sent on loan to Ipswich, registering zero goals in eight Championship appearances, before opting to stay in the second tier and sign with Leeds United in a reported £3 million deal.

It was Elland Road where the 23-year-old’s career took off as emphasised by the fact that they sold him for five times the fee they bought him for (£15 million).

Consequently, eight years after that memorable debut, Wood was back in the Premier League with Burnley — and he has been a mainstay in England’s top division ever since.

Not to suggest there haven’t been further setbacks along the way, however.

Wood managed 49 goals in 144 appearances for the Clarets, establishing himself as a solid if not spectacular performer, reaching double figures in four out of five seasons at Turf Moor.

This form prompted Eddie Howe’s Newcastle to pay a reported £25 million for the striker’s services, though Wood rarely looked a seamless fit for a newly rich, Saudi-backed Magpies squad capable of signing world-class stars.

The out-of-sorts striker consequently hit a disappointing four goals in 35 appearances for Eddie Howe’s side.

Newcastle are not exactly suffering in his absence, though Wood has as many Premier League goals this season as the player who effectively replaced him — Alexander Isak.

An initial loan spell at Nottingham Forest — the eighth temporary move of his career — was not an unequivocal success, as Wood scored once in seven appearances amid an injury-interrupted spell.

But he still showed enough to secure a permanent transfer to the then-Premier League strugglers.

Since completing a £15 million transfer to the City Ground, the veteran forward has seldom looked back.

14 goals in 31 appearances last season proved pivotal to Forest winning their battle against Premier League relegation — Nuno Espírito Santo’s men survived with a record-low tally of 32 points.

This year, Wood has again exceeded expectations — his goal last night means he is only one away from equalling last year’s tally after 21 games.

Only once in his career since moving to England has Wood scored more than 14 times in one season — and that was in the Championship with Leeds.

So it has taken him until the age of 33 to have what is unquestionably his best campaign to date.

He is one of several players in the Forest squad who have been written off or let go by supposedly bigger clubs at one stage or another — the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White, Matz Sels and Anthony Elanga also come into this category.

It is a lesson on the virtues of patience for Ferguson, who is going through a rough patch and will inevitably suffer more throughout his career.

Progress in football is rarely linear, as Wood’s and Forest’s trajectory epitomises.