Chris Wood’s prolific goalscoring for Nottingham Forest is unprecedented for New Zealand football and may never be repeated, the country’s coach said on Thursday.

The centre-forward is in the form of his life, with his eight goals in 11 matches playing a major part in Forest’s strong start to the season in the English Premier League, where they sit fifth.

New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley hopes that the 32-year-old can fire his country to their first World Cup since 2010.

“Everyone wants to talk about Woodsy right now,” Bazeley said on the eve of a home World Cup qualifier against Vanuatu.

“He’s doing amazing … right now what he’s done – this is something that may not happen again, for a New Zealander to be playing at that level, in that form.”

Englishman Bazeley, a defender in his playing days whose clubs included Wolves and Watford, said rugby-mad New Zealand did not fully appreciate how good Wood has been.