3/1 To Win
Derby County scholar Jason Knight remained upbeat despite Republic of Ireland’s 2-0 defeat to Belgium on Saturday’s opening round of UEFA Under-17s European Championship matches.
Knight played the full 90 minutes at the Loughborough University Stadium for Colin O’Brian’s outfit but he could not help his side to victory as they struggled against the physical Belgians, whose goals came from Sekou Sidibe and Yorbe Vertessen.
The 17-year-old, who has made 15 appearances for Derby’s Under-18s side, said: “It was a good game. There was a good intensity in the game and we were unlucky to come away without a win or a draw in the end.
“We know we weren’t at our best but we take positives, especially from the second-half with the chances we created and now we look forward to Denmark on Tuesday.
“I really enjoyed it, obviously we didn’t get the win but I still really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the atmosphere, the people around and the sunshine obviously, so it was good.”
Knight has also made several appearances in Darren Wassall’s Under-23s side at the latter stages of the season which he noted has helped him in the lead up to the tournament, keeping him on his toes.
“Preparation has been really good,” the midfielder said. “I played a few games for the Under-23s at the end of the season and then I was training a lot before the tournament, so I was well prepared coming into the competition.”
His side will be looking to take three points in their next Group C game against Denmark, who lost 3-2 to Bosnia and Herzegovina, but he was confident that they would take positives and look forward to Today’s game at St. George’s Park.
Knight said: “We haven’t done any homework on them yet, as we were just preparing for the game against Belgium but we’ll regroup tonight to improve for Denmark.”
Words: Molly Jennens
