BRIGHTON ...... 2 DERBY ............ 1

IF ONLY getting in the Brighton side was as easy for Anthony Knockaert as keeping his football-mad

four-year-old son happy.

A week after handing Ilyan a souvenir shirt from Chelsea star N’Golo Kante, Knockaert scored the goal he was under orders to net to help the Seagulls into the FA Cup quarter-finals.

It came on a rare start for the winger, who has admitted his frustration at not getting a regular game this term.

Knockaert, 27, celebrated his opener by blowing kisses and making a heart gesture towards his No.1 fan and said: “My little boy was in the stand. It’s a great moment for me and my family.

“I was really delighted for him to see me score because, when I left this morning, he asked me to score.

“He doesn’t come to every home game, just when he is on school holidays. He is at school in France.

“When they can, they try to come over. They had a free weekend so they came and were behind me. They are in Lille, so it’s not too far. I go back most of the time when I have two days off.

“I bring him a lot of things. He loves football, he knows every player. His favourite is Messi. Last week I brought him a Kante shirt. He was buzzing.

“Because he doesn’t really understand everything, he thinks I can score every game. I’m saying to him that’s not always as easy as it seems.

“He asks me why I am not starting. I explain to him it’s football and I will play a lot of games.” Once a regular and Brighton’s player of the year in their promotion-winning season, Knockaert’s only starts in 2019 have come in the FA Cup.

His last in the Premier League was in mid-December.

Knockaert, who lost his father Patrick in November 2016 and then went through a divorce the following summer, sparking a battle with depression, said: “There is no player in the world who loves being on the bench but it is not only me.

“It’s always frustrating but I’m still young and have a lot of games to play in my career, but I put things in perspective