West Ham star ready to take out Burnley’s Wood on flight home

West Ham defender Winston Reid has joked that he is ready to take out Burnley striker and New Zealand team-mate Chris Wood.

The All Whites skipper will take on his international colleague when the Premier League returns the weekend after next and Reid is ready to do the Hammers a big favour as the pair prepare to face Japan in a friendly in two days time.

​”I’ve been joking that I’m going to kick him on the flight back home,” Reid told The Dominion Post.

Wood, who made a big-money move to the Clarets from Leeds, has made a good start to life at Turf Moor and scored off the bench on his debut in a 1-1 draw with Tottenham.

Joking aside, Reid has been impressed with how his New Zealand colleague has performed since joining Sean Dyche’s men.

He added: “I’m very pleased. He’s worked really hard the last couple of years, his performances have been getting better and better and he deserves this.”

As for Wood, he would not be drawn on Reid’s banter but did admit he is purely focusing on international football for the time being.

“I’ve played with Winnie for a number of years now and he’s a very good player, but they have 10 other great players in their starting lineup when it does get round to it, but we’re not focusing on that just yet. We’re looking to get a result come Friday.

“It’s all geared for New Zealand. There’s nothing about clubs at the moment, once we get past this game and have a positive reaction to it, then we can look forward to that sort of encounter.”

As for form with the Clarets, two goals in five games is a pretty decent start but Wood admits he still has work to do despite Burnley sitting sixth in the Premier League table.

He added: “It’s been a great start for me, but at the same time it is only a start. I’ve got a long way to go in my career and a lot more I want to achieve. I’ve got to keep progressing and keep working hard to achieve those things.

“I need to work hard personally and as a club we’ve got to keep going forward to make sure we’re high up that table.”