CHRIS Wood has been denied a Kiwi head-to-head with international teammate Winston Reid today by the news the West Ham centre back is out for the season.

The New Zealand duo were due to do battle at the London Stadium but Reid has been ruled out for the rest of the campaign after suffering a horror knee injury against Swansea a week ago.

Wood and Reid had met at Turf Moor back in October with honours shared in terms of points, although it was the Clarets record signing who edged the personal battle with a goal five minutes from time to salvage a draw for Burnley.

Speaking last week Wood had said that football fans back home would be eagerly watching the highlights as two of the nation's top footballing stars went head-to-head.

While the battle has been postponed, Wood believes it a golden era in the Premier League for the All Whites.

The likes of Ryan Nelson and Simon Elliott have played in the top flight before, but rarely have two of New Zealand's top players been in the Premier League in their prime at the same time.

"It is fantastic, it’s probably the first time in the history that we’ve had two at the same time," Wood said.

"Ryan (Nelson) and Winny crossed over a little bit, Simon Elliott and Ryan crossed over a little bit, but not consistently.

"Hopefully over the years we will do that."