A lot has changed in the three months Sam Wood has spent recovering from a knee injury he picked up at the tail end of last season.

Most pertinently the makeup of the Wycombe Wanderers squad which now boasts a number of new names while familiar faces have been released.

For Wood the changing environment at Adams Park matters little, and he is just pleased to be back on the pitch after returning in the 0-0 draw with QPR on Friday.

“It is good to get some minutes. I think it has been about three months since I last played. I took a little knock the other week and that is why I didn’t play in France,” Wood explained.

“It is never nice watching because all you want to do is help the team out. Obviously I was unable to do that last season, but that is done now and I am looking forward.

“Hopefully I will stay injury free and I can crack on with the new season.”

Wood’s absence was felt last term as the club were left with a dearth of natural options on the wings, especially the left, which Wood has made his own in recent years.

He will face a stern test to do the same this year with the arrivals of Paris Cowan-Hall and in particular Myles Weston giving Gareth Ainsworth more options.

Wood, 29, is unfazed by the extra competition for his starting berth and insists the new faces can only be good for the club.

“It is definitely not worrying me. It is good for the team, it is good for the gaffer and we push each other,” Wood said.

“You do want to play, so I am going to give 100 per cent like I have done since I have been here. I can only do my best and hopefully that’s enough to start some games.

“Either way I am going to back Westy (Weston) or whoever plays in my position. I will always be behind my teammates no matter what.”

Such is the turnover of players at Wanderers, Wood will go into the upcoming campaign as one of the club’s longest serving current squad members.

The 2016/17 campaign will be his fifth with Wycombe and he therefore feels he has a role to play in helping to implement the Wycombe culture and style of play.

He said: “I have been with the gaffer since day one, since he has come in, so I know how he wants to play. I will always talk to the younger lads and the new boys when they come in.

“I am one of the experienced lads now, so I look forward to it and I just want to help the boys.”