Brighton’s Knockaert senses Foxes repeat at Amex

FORMER Leicester City winger Anthony Knockaert believes it’s conceivable Brighton can not only achieve promotion this term but replicate the Foxes’ surge to the Premier League summit.

The 24-year-old knew almost nothing but success at the King Power Stadium, reaching the play-offs in his first season, gaining automatic promotion in his second and successfully battling relegation from the top flight last term against all the odds.

Since he switched to Standard Liege in the summer and now on to Brighton, Leicester have over-achieved beyond all expectation and sit five points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Much of this good work has been achieved with the spine of the team that escaped the Championship, including Wes Morgan and Jamie Vardy.

The Seagulls are currently soaring in the upper reaches of the Championship and, as they prepare to face promotion rivals Hull City on Tuesday night, Knockaert believes the sky’s the limit.

“I had this feeling with Leicester, a promotion. It’s unbelievable,” he said.

“All I can say to my team-mates is keep working hard. Every game has to be like a cup final. If you want to be promoted, that’s how it is. That was my experience with Leicester.

“I’m impressed because there are very good players here. Every player in this team has real quality. Some deserve to be in the Premier League.

“It’s about winning games and deserving to be in the Premier League next year. The difference in having quality and going there is a big one, but I believe we have the quality to do it and to achieve.

“If you see the team now at Leicester, there are a lot of players that used to play in the Championship with me. They still have the same shape, they still have the same formation.

“Everyone knows everyone. They know how to play together and that, for me, is the key.

“Sometimes you have to keep the same players in the same formation every year to make progress.

“That’s what they have done and I’m not surprised to see Leicester top of the Premier League because they work very hard and this is a super group of people. Also, they love each other.

“Every team is capable of doing the same. We know how to work in the Championship and go to the Premier League.

“To get promoted is hard, but if you really want to you can do it, any team can do it – it’s just about working hard to achieve what you want to do.

Going up: Leicester’s Mahrex, Drinkwater, Morgan, Vardy and Nugent (photo by Action Images)

“At Leicester we had a very good team and two strikers, Jamie Vardy and David Nugent, who scored in every game.”

Knockaert took little time to endear himself to the Brighton faithful, scoring in only his second outing at the Amex Stadium.

He describes netting in the 3-0 win against Brentford last weekend as a great feeling.

And he admits the love he has felt since returning to these shores from Belgium has been heart-warming.

“Everyone has welcomed me, as I was expecting,” he added. “That’s the English mentality. I was very happy to be in this group and I can see after three weeks that everything is good for me. All the players are very nice to me.

“This is a big thing when you are a new player in a team.

“I feel good and I can feel that on the pitch. I can play how I want and to my maximum to help the team.

“I always give 100 per cent. There are some games where I won’t be the best on the pitch, but I will try to give everything to help the team achieve promotion.

“The Championship is a crazy league. It’s not about individuals, it’s about team performances and I think the key to achieve promotion is to work altogether, from the goalkeeper to the strikers.

“We need some players who can do individual things going forwards, but the most important is to work as a team.”