Defender Knoyle feels best is still to come from Mansfield Town ahead of Port Vale trip
Kyle Knoyle says he feels he’s settled in well at Mansfield Town and that the best is still to come from him and his new team-mates.
Knoyle arrived in the summer having previously been at Stockport County and the London-born right-back, who turns 29-years-old next week, has played every minute of every league game so far.
And he says he’s keen to kick on and help the Stags return to winning ways having not enjoyed a victory since August 23.
He said: "I’ve really enjoyed it so far. The eight games have gone pretty quick and have come thick and fast but I’ve enjoyed it and being in the thick of the season.
"I feel like we’ve progressed through the weeks after not having the best of starts. We went through the spell of winning three games on the trot and things really started to click, then had the big cup game against Everton which was an enjoyable experience.
"It was a challenge at the start where we weren’t getting results we could have got against teams we felt we should be beating, but we’ve had some great home performances and it’s about keeping that consistency.
"Losing to Wycombe wasn’t really like us but we’re building – it’s still early in the season but you can see the signs there of what we’re trying to do.
"Stevenage have had a great start and are a tough team to beat. You can see what they do in terms of set pieces and throwing everything at you, so I feel like we stood up to the challenge they presented and after going behind, I felt that to come back and once we’d got that goal there was only one team that was going to win the game.
“Unfortunately we didn’t but it was a good point at home. Joe Gardner’s goal was top – we’ve not seen too much of Joe with his injury but we’ve seen glimpses in training as to what he can do and he’s obviously shown that at the weekend. The challenge is for him to keep doing that if he can.
Knoyle has been praised by manager Nigel Clough for his consistent displays and the player himself, whilst happy to take the compliment, says consistency will be the most important factor for the whole squad to aim for.
He said: "I’m happy with my performances. I feel like I could maybe do a bit more going forward but I’m not going to be putting too much pressure on myself in that regard.
"I feel like I’ve done my job to the best of my ability and I just want to keep building on my performances so far and I know the best is yet to come.
"The whole squad’s been consistent and it’s just about building relationships with the players around me.
"In the first five or six games we’re still trying to build that fitness but as the relationships build the levels of performance will improve and there’s plenty to look forward to.
"It takes a bit of time as a new signing to develop those relationships, whereas if you’ve been at a club for a long time and know those players then you know their habits and what they’re going to do and not going to do, and obviously that takes a bit of time, but I feel like I’ve settled in pretty quickly and got to know the players and the staff and it’s a very easy-going environment to settle in to.”
Looking ahead to the trip to Port Vale on Saturday, Knoyle says he expects a tough challenge.
He said: "I don’t know too much about Port Vale other than that they’ve just come up from League Two and when teams come up they bring a bit of momentum with them after a positive season, so it’ll be a tough test at a big away ground with a big pitch but we should be positive going into the game and be looking to get the three points.”