It had been a pretty dull first thirteen minutes for Chris Wood. Birmingham had completely dominated this game from the opening whistle and it’s hard to remember Wood even having a touch of the ball as he toiled thanklessly up top.

And then suddenly a moment. Deep on defence against a Birmingham corner, Leeds sent the ball forward through Luke Ayling in the direction of the big kiwi up top. It appeared Ryan Shotton was going to get to the ball first but he couldn’t quite reach and it emerged for Wood, who lobbed it up over Tomasz Kuszczak in goal to make it 1-0, entirely against the run of play. He’d add a second goal late in the game and, despite the fact that they were outplayed for the majority of the contest, Leeds came away with a 3-1 victory.

That’s the kind of season that Chris Wood is having. His former wastefulness has disappeared and he’s evolving into one of the most clinical scorers in the English Championship. He’s for damn sure crucial for this Leeds side, having scored 22 of their 49 league goals. And this double against Birmingham put him clear in top spot of the Champo golden boot list too, ahead of Newcastle’s Dwight Gayle who Wood had tied the previous weekend with his winner against Sheffield Wednesday.

Two months ago Gayle was running away with that golden boot but then injury struck. He’s only just returned after a couple of weeks out and hadn’t scored since mid-January following a recurrence of his hamstring injury but his comeback took off at the second attempt on the weekend. Gayle came off the bench to add an injury time banger and seal a 3-1 victory for Newcastle against Huddersfield. Not good news for Woody’s top goal-scorers challenge but ironically really good news for his team as it keeps third-placed Huddersfield only a point ahead of Leeds.

For the record Tammy Abraham of Bristol City is third with 18 goals, Glenn Murray of Brighton is next with 17 and Scott Hogan’s 14 goals for Brentford have him in fifth. Lots can change between now and the end of the season but it looks at the mo’ like it’ll be a two-man race for the golden boot.

The best stat about Woody’s season is that he still has the chance to unprecedentedly score against every other Championship club this season. Excluding Leeds, naturally, that means 23 different oppositions with two games against each. 180 minutes maximum against the buggers is a tight window to find the net in without fail. Yet with 11 games remaining the possibility remains.  

Leeds’ Remaining Games:

• Fulham (A): Scored in a 1-1 draw early in the season
• QPR (H): Failed to score in a 3-0 opening week defeat
• Brighton (H): Played 90 mins in a 2-0 defeat in December without scoring
• Reading (H): Came off the bench to score in a 2-0 win away
• Brentford (A): Missed the home game through injury
• Preston (H): Only played 9 minutes, returning from injury. Didn’t score but got an assist in 4-1 win
• Newcastle (A): Lost 2-0 at home in November, obviously didn’t score
• Wolves (H): Won 1-0 away in October but Woody didn’t get a goal
• Burton (A): Won 2-0, Woody with an 83rd minute penalty for the lead
• Norwich (H): Beat them 3-2 away and Wood scored the second
• Wigan (A): Got one in a 1-1 draw back in October

Those are in chronological order, with the Fulham game coming up in the midweek (he’s already scored against those jerries), so the set can be completed against Wolves with three matches to spare (meaning they can even rest him before the playoffs without breaking the (presumably in their mind irrelevant) magic). As for those playoffs, the way the table is shaping up suggests that unless something drastic happens, Huddersfield, Leeds, Reading and Sheffield Wednesday are all jostling for positions. Wood has scored past each of them already so those extra games won’t alter anything.

There were actually seven teams on that list before the contest against Birmingham… but you already know how that one went and happened.

The other thing that this bit of trainspotting tells you, apart from the craziness/consistency of his goal scoring, is how often he’s played. That Brentford game is the only one he’s missed all season, although he did get his rest in the cup campaigns. For a dude that missed 10 games out of 46 last season with multiple injuries, that’s impressive. 2737 minutes in the Championship in 2016-17 compared to 2883 in 2015-16. 124 minutes per goal compared to 222. 22 league goals and counting compared to 13. A mere three of his Championship goals and four overall have come from the penalty spot as well, which is the same number he garnished last time.

This is already the best goal tally of Wood’s career so there’s no chasing his own ghosts but there are a few external ones he can still catch up with. Ross McCormack had a brilliant season for Leeds back in 2014-15 where he scored 29 goals in all competitions. That’s absolutely within Wood’s capabilities with 11 games left and potentially up to three more in the playoffs after that. He’s done this largely without Cup footy either to pad the numbers (three goals in the EFL Cup in limited minutes, while he didn’t play FA Cup at all). Twice Jermaine Beckford scored in excess of 30 goals for Leeds – 34 in 2008-09 was his best – but that was in the dark League 1 days against a lower standard of competition. The best ever for the club? The legendary John Charles with 43 back in 1953-54. That number’s surely out of reach but he could potentially get close to Beckford, fingers crossed.

As for the Championship, well in its current format which was established in 2004-05 there has only been one man to score 30 league goals. Woody’s on 22 as we speak and should get himself onto this list with ease if things continue along the current trend.

MOST GOALS IN CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON (FROM 2004-05 ONWARDS):

1. Glenn Murray (Crystal Palace) – 30 goals in 2012-13
2. Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn) – 29 goals in 2012-13
3. Ross McCormack (Leeds Utd) – 28 goals in 2013-14
4. Rickie Lambert (Southampton) – 27 goals in 2011-12
5. Daryl Murphy (Ipswich) – 27 goals in 2014-15
6. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (Wolves) – 25 goals in 2008-09
7. Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn) – 25 goals in 2013-14
8. Andre Gray (Burnley) – 25 goals in 2015-16

Chances are we get two names added to that list after this season given Dwight Gayle’s proficiencies (btw, yes football existed before 04-05 and indeed before 92-93 as well… but Woody’s not coming close to George Camsell’s second division record of 59 goals for Middlesbrough in the 1926-27 season, now is he?).

Dwight Gayle, opposite to Woody, tends to get his goals in clumps. Only three times has he scored in consecutive games this season but he has two hat-tricks and five doubles (one coming in that 2-0 win over Leeds). Woody on the other hand doesn’t have a hatty to his name at all but while Gayle’s goals have come in 12 different games, Wood’s have come in 21 games. Gayle’s injury means he’s played fewer games and minutes (22 starts and 3 sub apps for 1821 mins compared to Wood’s 31 starts and 3 subs for 2737 mins) though Wood’s current form means he’s playing as well as he has all season and Gayle is still easing back from injury so the momentum is firmly in the Leeds forward’s corner.

Probably a good reason why his finishing has been so clinical, Wood is tied with Brighton’s Lewis Dunk for the most shots from inside the six-yard box – 15 of them each. Dunk’s a defender though, his close efforts are all coming from set pieces and their scramble-afters while Wood is setting himself up for tap-ins (8 of those 15 have been goals). That’s what a proper poacher does.

Oh and that flippin’ form he’s in! First game of 2017 and he grabbed a double against Rotherham. He’d score in each of the next three games and in eight of his 11 games this year all up. 11 goals in 11 games and it’s no coincidence that only Newcastle have gathered more points over that time frame than Leeds. Woody’s on fire. There’s no doubting it.

Which is why the possibility of promotion suddenly doesn’t feel like the poisoned chalice it did a few months ago. There’s a genuine argument that Wood is a player who hits his peak at this Championship level. He’s been on Premier League squads before and not made much of a mark and if Leeds are to get a lift up to the top division you can guarantee they’ll be looking to sign another striker among several others (there's usually a bit of player turnover with promotion). Often that means the dudes that get you up are pushed to the bench - it's already happened to him with Leicester.

With only this one season under his belt playing to this standard, Wood’s a prime target for a reversion to the mean, alright. Even in the Championship he's unlikely to repeat this, let alone the Premier League. That is, unless he's made some crucial evolution in his game which might carry him at any level of football. Leeds assistant coach James Beattie is getting a lot of credit for his work with Wood, who has also never looked fitter than he does this season. Plus sometimes all it takes is confidence and opportunity (ask Jamie Vardy). 

Lately it’s starting to feel like that. Jordan Rhodes is a good example of a player who hasn’t ever been able to translate what he does in the Championship to the top tier. Wood, with his occasionally heavy touch and his old fashioned way of playing, should in theory be something similar. Except in recent years we’ve seen these lower league to Premier League success stories from guys like Troy Deeney, Charlie Austin, Callum Wilson and, yes, that man Vardy. None are the type of striker that Wood is but they all share one common trait: finishing. Goals are the only stat that really truly matters and if Wood’s now this stunning finisher then that’ll do him right against any opposition in the world.

And even if he’s not, he’ll always have this season.