Jason hails Chiedozie’s impact on kenny project
League One players started and two more, including MK Dons’ on-loan striker Troy Parrott, came off the bench. It’s hard to argue against the idea that this team is punching above its weight — although Kenny would likely recoil at such a suggestion.
Fresh
But looking at his history at club level and listening to Coleman and Knight talk about Ogbene, it’s clear that Kenny has the ability to see things in his players that others don’t.
Knight said of Saturday’s hero: “I think Chieo has been a breath of fresh air ever since he came into the squad.
“He is great around the place and obviously his performances have been excellent.
“We just need more from that and the rest of the squad moving forward.”
And he added that he slotted in so comfortably to a top-three with Ogbene and Callum Robinson because of his relationship with the pair.
“I have played with Callum and Chieo quite a bit now. It is quite a fluid relationship and we are good mates off the pitch. That helps a lot,” he said.
It’s vintage Kenny.
As for some more of Knight’s observations from Saturday’s performance, he hailed the work done by Kenny and his coaching staff at getting his players to press high up the pitch and with the type of aggression that made the Belgians uncomfortable.
“That’s something the manager brought in when he first came in,” he said.
“It takes a lot of energy, it takes a lot of desire but when you do it right and it comes off it looks really well.
“Obviously at times tonight, Belgium are a good team, they can get out of it, but for the majority we pressed really well and got really good chances out of it.”
The Derby midfielder praised the players’ fortitude, saying: “I think there is great character in this squad, from dealing with setbacks, we have gone through tough times as a squad.
Character
“And I think to come through those times we built a big, big character in the squad.
“Obviously we went a goal down, after starting the game well, really well, and that can be a sucker punch but we got through it.
“They had a bit of possession after that but our reaction to the second goal, we did really well.”
And looking ahead to tomorrow night, Knight said: “It is going to be a big game for us on Tuesday night and we will try and get a win in front of our home fans.
“It will be a great game and something we are really looking forward to, to get a good result.”