All Whites captain Chris Wood has returned to the Nottingham Forest squad after being sidelined for six months.

The 34-year-old had been out since mid-October with an injury and had knee surgery in December, but has travelled to Portugal as part of his club’s squad for the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Porto.

Nottingham Forest manager Vitor Pereira confirmed Wood has started to train with the team and is available for the match.

“He is working with us, we need to manage him a little bit physically but he has travelled,” Pereira said.

“It means he is available to be in the game tomorrow.

“He is an experienced player, he scores goals and it’s important to be ready for the team in this moment because we face a lot of challenges.”

All Whites captain Chris Wood has returned to the Nottingham Forest squad for the first time in six months. Photo / Photosport

Wood has appeared in two reserve team games for Forest as part of his recovery and scored in a 3-0 win over Newcastle last month, but he has only scored twice in the Premier League this season, with both goals coming on the opening day.

Forest have suffered in his absence, scoring just 31 goals in 31 games and currently sitting three points above the relegation zone.

Despite poor form domestically, Forest have progressed well in the second-tier Europa League, with Wood’s replacement Igor Jesus the competition’s top scorer.

“He has everything to be a top scorer and to play in the top level because he has technical quality, he’s intelligent, he has the spirit, the true spirit because it’s not only in attack, it’s to defending, to help the team and this is the kind of player that is a honour for me to work with,” Periera said of Jesus.

Wood’s return will be a boost for the All Whites’ World Cup preparations, having last appeared for New Zealand in a 1-1 draw with Norway.

Since then, the All Whites lost three of the four games they have played, but secured a historic victory over Chile.

New Zealand won that game 4-1 at Eden Park in their first-ever victory over a South American team.