Tommy Smith's been in good form for Ipswich lately

Flying Kiwis will keep you up to date on the endeavours of New Zealand sports folk overseas. Not the battlers, mind you, but the genuine overlooked and underappreciated superstars that for some ridiculous reason don’t get a look in on local media.

Chris Wood – Leicester City (English Championship)

Not a great week for Leicester City. Beginning atop the Championship table, they fell 2-1 to Sheffield Wednesday (Connor Wickham scored both for Weds) on, well, a Wednesday in Sheffield. Obviously things weren’t gonna go their way given that omen. Chris Wood was a 68th minute sub, and although he got himself involved, and had a couple decent chances (a blocked shot and a header straight at the keeper), he wasn’t able to turn this result around. Then on the weekend the Foxes were well beaten by Brighton, who took an early 2-0 lead, and finished things off with a late penalty after Andy King had pegged one back for Leicester. Wood, again, was a second half sub (64 mins), and he had even less of an impact (he did drag one shot wide) as Brighton were every bit as good as the result suggests. Leicester City did get a little luck with other results, but now sit third, behind first placed Burnley by a single point.

Up Next: Home to top of the table Burnley, 1.15am on Sunday (NZT)

Tommy Smith – Ipswich Town (English Championship)

It was a very contrasting week for Ipswich, who won twice to claw themselves back into the playoff hunt. Tommy Smith played all 180 minutes. The midweek win over Blackburn (3-1) wasn’t his best performance, more a solid, dependable one. Blackburn went for a one-dimensional crossing tactic, and so Smith’s CB partner, Scotsman Christophe Berra, being the more physical of the two, was clearing away headers all day. Smith meanwhile was free to hold off and mop up any rare mistakes. Berra wasn’t as flash on the weekend, as CB roles were almost reversed. Against Huddersfield, Berra gave up an early penalty, which was missed by James Vaughan, though Vaughan appeased the visiting fans by setting up the opener 10 minutes later. Ipswich keeper Dean Gerkin (bet those nasty kids at school made fun of him…) was well on form, making a number of good saves, and Tommy Smith swept up all danger in front of him. After the break, Ipswich took their chances, scoring twice for a 2-1 win. They now sit 9th, but just 1 point off 5th place.

Up Next: Sunday morn, 4am – Nottingham Forest away

Marco Rojas – VfB Stuttgart (Bundesliga)

Stuttgart won, Rojas didn’t play. And don’t even get me started on West Ham without Winston Reid.

Up Next: Away to Wolfsburg, Sunday 6.30am (NZT)