
West Brom have handed teenage striker Chris Wood a new two-year deal to keep him at the Hawthorns until 2011.
The 17-year-old came off the bench to make his Premier League debut in the 2-2 draw at Portsmouth last month and featured again on the final day at Blackburn.
Academy product Wood has been included in the New Zealand squad for the Confederations Cup in South Africa next month.
The new deal includes a further two-year option which the Hawthorns club can take up if Wood impresses over the next two terms.
Albion manager Tony Mowbray said: "I'm delighted Chris has been rewarded with his contract. Hopefully he is the first of a handful of young players who will be signing pro contracts over the summer.
"We feel the future is very bright for the players who are now starting to emerge from the Academy, some of whom were on the bench at Blackburn on Sunday.
"There's a really positive feeling coming from the Academy. We possess some young, talented individuals.
"They've all got a lot of hard work ahead of them but they'll hopefully have bright futures in the game."
Wood was joined on the bench at Ewood Park by two Academy team-mates - the club's Young Player of the Year Paul Downing and attacking midfielder Romaine Sawyers.
Striker Lateef Elford-Alliyu was also in the travelling party but did not make the final 18.
Wood only joined the Academy last summer but has made rapid strides forward this season.
He was named the Young Player of the Year at the recent New Zealand Football Awards ceremony in Auckland.

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