Derby County midfielder Jason Knight has signed a new deal at pride Park to commit his future to the Rams, following a string of impressive performances for Phillip Cocu’s side this season.

The Rams have announced on their official club website that Knight has put pen to paper on a new deal, which will keep the 18-year-old at Pride Park until the end of the 2022/23 season – and the midfielder will be aiming to establish himself as a crucial member of Derby’s side over the next few years.

Knight has been given his chance to impress at Derby this season by Cocu, with the Dutchman looking to offer opportunities to some of the talented players coming trough the Rams’ academy, and the 18-year-old was handed his first team debut on the opening day of the campaign at Huddersfield Town.

Since then Knight has gone onto to make 18 appearances for the Rams in all competitions this campaign, managing to impress Cocu with his work rate and technical ability in midfield, which has seen the 18-year-old emerge as an important member of the Rams’ starting line-up over the last few weeks.

The 18-year-old showed his potential to add goals for the Rams in the final third, by scoring his first two senior goals for the club in the Rams’ 2-1 win at home to Charlton Athletic back at the end of December, and he has started the last eight Championship matches for Cocu’s side.

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Here then, we take a look at Knight’s stats from the season so far and assess whether he could emerge as a star at Pride Park over the next few years…

Knight’s energy and ability to offer an added threat for the Rams in the final third has been key to helping Cocu’s side improve their form over the last few weeks, with Derby unbeaten in their last five Championship matches since a 3-0 defeat at Reading.

The 18-year-old has proven his ability to contribute to the Rams attacking output from either a midfield role or in the wide positions, managing to average 1.81 shots per game so far this campaign, which suggests that Knight has the ability to get into promising positions in the final third and is not afraid to have a go when a chance comes his way.

The midfielder has also managed to show he can be a real threat in the wide positions, when Cocu has elected to start him on the flanks, with Knight averaging 2.01 crosses per game – and that means he can be relied upon to deliver balls into the penalty area for the Rams’ other attacking players to get on the end of.

One of the reasons why Knight has been effective for Derby in the wide positions at times in the last few weeks, has been his ability to commit defenders and create space for other attacking players, which has been evidenced by him averaging 2.61 dribbles per game, showing he lacks no confidence in possession.

Playing in Cocu’s system it is vital that players are able to retain possession and help to sustain attacks, and Knight has shown that he has composure on the ball to keep possession when under pressure, having averaged an impressive 82.4% passing accuracy so far this term.

One area of his game that Cocu will be aiming to develop is Knight’s defensive abilities, but the 18-year-old has already shown promising signs of his potential to help out the Rams’ defence, averaging 2.75 interceptions per game and also winning 54.7% of his duels so far this campaign.

Were Knight to continue to develop at his current rate, then he could have the potential to be a crucial player for the Rams for the next few seasons – and it will be interesting to see just how much progression the 18-year-old can make over the next few years.