Pre-Match Thoughts: Knight Buzzing For Bumper Pride Park Crowd

Derby County midfielder Jason Knight is looking forward to being back at Pride Park Stadium for the Sky Bet League One clash with Port Vale on Saturday after nearly a month away.

The Rams haven't been in action in Derbyshire since the 2-1 victory over Wycombe Wanderers back in mid-September but return to home turf this weekend for the first time under new Head Coach Paul Warne.

Speaking to RamsTV ahead of the game, Knight spoke of his delight at being back at Pride Park as well as life under the new man in the dugout over the last fortnight.

On the victory at Cambridge…

It was good, it was important. If we think back to the previous few games away from home we didn't get the results we needed to, so it was good to start of the gaffer’s reign with a good result and a clean sheet.

On playing under Paul Warne…

I’m really enjoying it so far. It’s how I like to play football; high energy, getting forward and getting back and getting a good influence on the game. I’m really enjoying it at the moment.

On his ‘high energy’ attribute…

Maybe it’s a bit of desire inside. I moved away from home when I was young so there was always that kind of desire to do everything that I could to make it in the game.

I’ve always been amongst the top few, it’s something I try to strive for. It’s something you can definitely always go and make sure you’re the best at. With statistics and stuff you can always measure yourself against other people and try and improve all the time.

It’s obviously tough at times when you’ve got loads of games like on Saturday/Tuesday but on every Tuesday and Thursday when we haven’t got a game it’s always important to get those extra bits in.

On playing at right-back early in the season…

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, but I’m enjoying it a lot more in the middle and it’s up to me to try and stay there and perform well enough to play in the team moving forward.

On what Paul Warne expects from him…

It’s only been a few days but we’ve had some good chats. He’s told me he wants me to play in midfield and be box-to-box more and get some more goals and help the team that way. That was music to my ears because that’s exactly what I think as well.

On Port Vale…

We had a good result just before the international break and it’s important we keep that going. It’s going to be a tough test, like every game in this league. It’s looking like it’s going to be another bumper crowd and we need to give them something to shout about.