Stats show how much Leeds United will miss injured striker Chris Wood

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Who would have thought it? Chris Wood; absolutely essential to Leeds United’s promotion hopes.

It doesn’t seem long since many Leeds United fans were lamenting the prospect of embarking upon a 46 game campaign with Chris Wood as their first-choice centre-forward. After all, a tally of 13 goals in 37 appearances across 2015/16 hardly suggested that the 25-year-old could be the spearhead for a promotion push.

However, four months into the season, that is exactly what Chris Wood has become. The spearhead for a promotion push.

Previously the streakiest of strikers, the odd purple patch never far away from a period of prolonged profligacy, the New Zealander has been unusually consistent throughout the season, averaging better than a goal-a-game.

And the fact that supporters will now be spending their day anxiously waiting on updates after he strained a hamstring in Tuesday’s impressive 2-0 win against Reading, where guess who scored the opener, is testament to how emphatically he has responded to the early-season doubters.

The fact is that he has become hugely important to Garry Monk’s side, the first name on the team-sheet and often the difference between one point and three.

After all, Leeds’ second highest scorer this season, Souleymane Doukara, is eight behind Wood in the scoring charts on three.

And, perhaps most worryingly of all, only one player in the entire division has contributed a higher proportion of their team’s goals, per WhoScored. Scott Hogan’s 13 Championship strikes for Brentford represents exactly half his side’s tally.

Wood, meanwhile, is statistically more crucial to Leeds than Dwight Gayle is to Newcastle or Glenn Murray is to Brighton, contributing 44 per cent of Leeds’ league goals in 2016/17.

With a gruelling festive fixture schedule looming on the horizon, including a local derby with Rotherham and a trip to Aston Villa, Leeds will be praying their newly-reliable goalscorer will not be sidelined for too long. Touch wood.