Can Chris Wood play against Newcastle United for Nottingham Forest on Friday?

Newcastle United make the Premier League trip to Nottingham Forest on Friday night (kick-off 8pm), fresh from doing January transfer business with the relegation-threatened side.

As the Reds battle to retain their top-flight status, manager Steve Cooper raided Newcastle for Chris Wood and Jonjo Shelvey. Wood joined on an initial loan deal, while Shelvey was a permanent arrival on deadline day.

Can Chris Wood play against Newcastle United on Friday?

The answer, in short, is no.

Wood joined Nottingham Forest on loan during the January transfer window, and it is often the case that players are not permitted to play against their parent clubs.

Although the New Zealand international has already triggered a £15million permanent switch to the City Ground after meeting the performance-related criteria, that won’t become official until next season.

There’s a chance Wood would have been ruled out through injury anyway. The striker was brought on as a 67th-minute substitute during Forest’s 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday but lasted a mere six minutes.

“Woody was just so unfortunate,” said Reds boss Steve Cooper. “He goes on, and in his first moment in the game he gets a really bad knock to his thigh which really swells up instantly like you wouldn’t believe.

“He tried to carry on with it, but it was just impossible. When he came to the halfway line and I saw it, I knew he wouldn’t be able to carry on, even though he tried. That was really unfortunate.”

What about Jonjo Shelvey?

Unlike Wood, Shelvey is free to feature against his former teammates after joining permanently. And it is likely he will too, with the midfielder starting the last four games for Forest.

Howe did not want to lose the 31-year-old but respected the player’s wishes. Shelvey left on excellent terms, and penned an open letter to supporters shortly after bidding an emotional farewell during half-time of Newcastle’s Carabao Cup second-leg semi-final win over Southampton.

Shelvey, who made 202 appearances for Newcastle across a seven-year spell, was also present at Wembley for last month’s final defeat to Manchester United.

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