CHRIS Wood has spoken of his sadness at the death of Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

The Foxes play their first game at the King Power Stadium since the helicopter crash outside the ground that killed Srivaddhanaprabha, along with four others, less than a fortnight ago, with Burnley the opponents tomorrow.

Wood spent more than two years at Leicester, helping them win promotion to the Premier League in 2014, and got to know the billionaire businessman and his family.

But while he expects a day filled with emotion, he knows Burnley have a job to do come 3pm to get a much-needed win. And he is confident he and his team-mates will be ready after paying their respects.

“Vichai was a great, respected person both at the club and Leicester in general, so there’s going to be a lot of emotion around the game,” said the striker, who is still friends with some of his former Foxes team-mates.

“I’ve passed on regards to a couple of the guys that I was close to. It’s a tough time for them, especially the boys that I knew, who had already been there a few years, so they knew the owner very well. They’ve had a tough time after it.

“It definitely hit me. Vichai talked to everybody, he got to know everybody and he was definitely a family man. He’d do everything for you, so yeah, it did hit home, someone who was so close.

“He would do anything for you, anything for your family if you needed it.

“If he had heard from someone that something had happened with the family he would go out of his way to show his support. He was just that type of person and they’re that type of family.

“He didn’t mind coming to the training ground and coming to talk to people and having lunch with the guys.

“He was just a normal bloke to us, he didn’t pose as anything different. We had dinner as a team and had days and afternoons out, he was just a down to earth guy and that’s how everyone will remember him. He was just a great guy.”

But Wood stressed the importance for Burnley of putting emotions to one side once the whistle blows.

“We’re going to have to approach the game like any other game. That’s what we’ve been doing all week,” he added.

“We know on the day there are going to be certain things that we’re going to have to do, in terms of paying our respects, which is fine. We’ll do that. But as soon as that first whistle goes, we’re ready for kick-off.

“It’s a very surreal occasion. It’s a huge tragedy that happened so it’s going to be filled with emotion both on and off the pitch. We’ll pay our respects then fight hard.”