Albion's Chris Wood joins Barnsley

Young Albion striker Chris Wood has been allowed to leave the Hawthorns and join Championship club Barnsley on a three-month loan deal.

The 18-year-old is headed to Oakwell to further his footballing education and is not due back until Christmas Eve, six days after the Tykes' Championship trip to Millwall.

Wood has been the subject of speculation for most of the summer and another Championship side, Derby County, were known to be interested but it's Barnsley who have won the race to land the New Zealand World Cup striker.

The teenager had been further pushed down the pecking order by last month's arrivals of Peter Odemwingie and Marc-Antoine Fortune so, with all bases covered, boss Roberto Di Matteo has allowed Wood out to play first-team football.

However, the head coach can recall the player after 28 days if needed.

Di Matteo said: "Chris is a very promising talent but, with the recent acquisitions of Peter and Marc-Antoine and with Roman Bednar, Simon Cox and Ishmael Miller also on our books, he's not getting the game-time he needs at this stage of his career.

"We feel it is best for his footballing education that he goes out on loan and gets some first-team games under his belt.

"He will hopefully get those in the Championship at Barnsley, who are an excellent footballing side, and we'll be closely monitoring his progress."