His Town debut may have coincided with a derby defeat to Norwich but recent recruit Chris Wood is determined there will be better times ahead for him and his new colleagues.

The big striker, who arrived on loan from Leicester last week and was sent on by manager Mick McCarthy near the end at Carrow Road on Sunday, could even start at Elland Road tonight as Town seek to put their East Anglian derby disappointment behind them.

Wood said: “It was nice to get out on the pitch and now I want to get out there a lot more, make my presence felt, hopefully do some damage and score a few goals for the team.

“Sunday’s result was obviously very disappointing to everyone but we moved on straight away.

“It’s one of those things and there is nothing to be gained from dwelling on it. You have to move forward and on to the next game, and in the Championship they come quick and fast. We’re all looking forward to Leeds now and putting things right up there.”

Wood is confident of being able to form a double act up front with either 21-goal top scorer Daryl Murphy, Freddie Sears or fellow loanee Luke Varney, who arrived on loan from Blackburn and was a half-time substitute at Carrow Road.

He added: “I like 4-4-2 and that’s the system I would like to play in. I like working in a partnership up top and I don’t mind who is alongside me. Whoever it might be, I would expect to form a partnership and for it to work well.

“Daryl and Freddie are the men in possession. They have done very well and are both good strikers. I believe I could play well alongside any of the strikers at the club. We’re all different in our own ways but I’m sure we could work well together.

“Every top club should have competition for places, good strikers all fighting and challenging each other for places in the team. There are four other good strikers at this club so it’s going to be a tough time, but an exciting time, for us.

“Every striker judges himself on the goals he scores but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter who scores. What matters most is winning and getting the three points, and that will never change.

“I’m ready to start games if required. I’m here to get some game time, work well for the team and hopefully get three points each time.

“I think every game in the Championship is quite tough and there are no easy games. Anybody can beat anybody on their day so we just have to keep fighting and keep working well for each other.

“I’m fortunate to have a few promotions under my belt and it’s a great feeling, getting promoted. All the boys here are looking for that and there’s a lot of hard work to be done before the end of the season, but we’ll be digging in and making sure we get the right results.”

Town boss Mick McCarthy is a long-term admirer of Wood, who said: “Being wanted is one of the best things for a player. You want to play for a manager who wants you to play for him and puts his faith in your ability to do a job for him.”

Wood went out on loan from first club West Bromwich Albion, enjoying temporary spells with Barnsley, Brighton, Birmingham, Bristol City and Millwall, and admitted he had hoped to put down roots at a club by now.

He said: “I was hoping to do that at Leicester but it hasn’t worked out so far and after my two years there I have had to come out on loan to get games.

“But it’s football and there aren’t that many people who stay at a club for a long period of time these days. It’s very rare.”

Photo: ITFC

Photo: Action Images

charsfield added 10:05 - Mar 4 i'm really pessimistic about mcgoldrick's injury the more i read. Fear he may be out for the season
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