striker

Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood is set for a further spell on the sidelines after undergoing surgery.

The New Zealand striker has been out since mid-October with a knee problem and is yet to feature under Sean Dyche since he replaced Ange Postecogolou as manager.

The 34-year-old excelled at the City Ground last term, scoring 20 times in 40 appearances as they qualified for Europe.

His playing time has been more limited this campaign, with Wood having managed two goals in nine appearances.

Wood did not specify the nature of his surgery, but he has been seen wearing a knee brace while watching recent Forest matches.

“The Christmas I didn’t expect, you can never know what football throws at you,” Wood wrote on Instagram.

“From the highs of last season to now the battles and the lows personally of this season. You have to be ready for anything.

“Truly gutting and frustrating that I’ll be on the sideline for another period of time. It’s what’s needed to come back stronger and better to help my team-mates do the job needed in the Premier League and in Europe.”

Wood’s last appearance came in Postecoglou’s final game in charge, the 3-0 defeat by Chelsea on 18 October.

Isak, who scored only his second Premier League goal of the season on Saturday in 10 appearances, has struggled since arriving at Anfield.

Earlier this summer, he was left out of the Newcastle squad for their pre-season tour of Asia with what the club described as a “minor thigh injury”, while it was understood he wanted to explore a move away.

Isak then trained alone at his former club Real Sociedad before joining Liverpool on deadline day.

Without a proper pre-season, he arrived short of match fitness and has started just 10 times in all competitions.

Liverpool are also without Mohamed Salah, who is with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations, and the injured Cody Gakpo.

Fellow forward Hugo Ekitike, who joined in the summer from Eintracht Frankfurt, was also on target at Spurs and expected to continue to lead the line for the Reds.

The 23-year-old Frenchman has scored 11 times this term, with five in the last three league games a factor in Isak starting on the bench.