Bristol City midfield star named above Arsenal's Buyako Saka in remarkable stats

Bristol City are winning their fair share of plaudits this season as they strive to achieve their first top six finish in the Championship since the 2007/08 campaign when they reached the play-off final under Gary Johnson.

A number of stars such as top scorer Anis Mehmeti, Nakhi Wells and Max Bird have enjoyed strong campaigns but only three players can say they have played in every minute this season and one of those is Jason Knight.

Overall, the 37-time Republic of Ireland international has started all 43 matches in the league this season, without ever being substituted. During this period, he’s racked up three goals and five assists, all while proving himself as one of the standout central midfielders in the division in recent months.

Bristol City star ranks third in incredible list

Intriguing new research by the International Centre for Sports Studies has found that the Bristol City footballer has played the third most games of any player in Europe to be born in 2001. Overall, the midfielder has made 303 appearances which puts him above the likes of Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka (302) PSG duo Kang-In Lee (286) and Khvicha Kvhratskheila (284) and Tottenham Hotspur forward Brennan Johnson (274).

Knight was born in Dublin and was recruited by Derby County in 2018 and helped the Rams Under-18 squad to a Youth Premier League title in his first season. Under manager, Phillip Cocu, he was a regular starter in the team at 18 and featured 35 times in the league while scoring five goals as the team finished in 10th.

The midfielder played 45 times the following season as financial troubles began to take centre stage, with Wayne Rooney replacing Cocu as manager at Pride Park. He played 38 times as the club were relegated from the division with a huge points deduction and stayed on further term in League One as the team finished seventh.

He played every game in the Championship last season after signing for Bristol City on an undisclosed fee and is still yet to miss a minute of football as we approach the final four games of the 2024/25 season.

Jason Knight remains focused on play-off dream

Speaking ahead of his side’s clash with Sunderland, Jason Kight insisted the team still has plenty to do to secure a top six finish.

"Look, we've put ourselves in a good position but classic Championship, there's probably about five or six teams who still fancy themselves as well," the Ireland international told the press at the HPC on Thursday afternoon. "There's still four games to go so we've got to take it individually and that's a big game against Sunderland.

"As soon as you stand still in this game, you'll be found wanting so we know we've got to keep our standard, keep up the level we've shown in games and ultimately get the results we need. That's what we're going to try and do on Friday and Monday as well.”

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