West Brom vs Burnley: Returning Chris Wood expecting Baggies to battle

Wood returns to the Midlands with Burnley, the club he joined from Leeds for a record £15million last summer.

Despite struggling with injury during his first season at Turf Moor, the 26-year-old has still managed to make an impact having netted seven goals in 17 appearances.

And he is eager to continue his run tomorrow against the club where he started his professional career, as the Clarets aim to consolidate seventh place in the Premier League table.

Albion sit bottom, ten points adrift of safety.

And Wood said: “We expect them to put everything on the line and throw everything at it.

“They’re looking for the next win, for the next few points to kick-start a little run, but we’re going there to continue our run and see where we can get to.

“We’ve still got to stick to what we’re good at and what we’ve done well to get to this point.

“We can build on that and add a few more elements to our game that we maybe wouldn’t try if the games were a bit tight.”

The Clarets are enjoying their most successful seasons for several decades and could be headed for a place in the Europa League of they can maintain their current position.

Wood, who made 27 appearances for Albion before joining Leicester in January 2013, is enjoying the journey.

“Before I came into this club I’d have been surprised to see Burnley get to this points total so quickly,” Wood said.

“But after I joined and began working under the manager and with the lads, now I’m not surprised, because we’ve got great quality and a great team and that’s something we can build on. I’d like to think we’re taking the club to the next level. We’re looking to keep on progressing as a team. We want to make sure we are an established Premier League side year in, year out and build on from there.

“One of our goals at the start of the season was to get to this point. It’s nice to do it so early on with a few games to go.

“People wrote us off at the start but we’re a team with a lot of character and a lot of heart, showing that we are a good footballing side. We’ve beaten some good teams this season. It’s satisfying, but we’ve got a lot more goals to achieve.”

He added: It’s been a good season for me personally. Unfortunately, I’ve missed quite a few of the games through injury, but I wanted to get myself into a Premier League team and establish myself here. Hopefully I can do that in the seasons to come.

“There’s a fantastic relationship between all of the strikers. It makes for a competitive outlook. There aren’t many spots in the team with a guaranteed starter.”