NEW FA chairman Greg Dyke says his first task in the job is to improve the chances for young footballers to break through – a subject Wanderers defender Zat Knight is just as passionate about.

Now 32, Knight is fully appreciative of the career football has given him, and still does after re-establishing himself as a regular in the Whites’ first-team under Dougie Freedman.

And he hopes others in the future can get similar breaks to him.

It was 16 years ago when a different Scottish manager first gave him a chance to impress.

After a difficult childhood, then Benfica boss Graeme Souness showed Knight light at the end of the tunnel – quite literally, at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon.

It was a lot to take in for a teenager from inner-city Birmingham and, ultimately, it did not work out.

But Knight admits that chance opened doors in the game back home in England and it was an experience he has carried with him throughout his career.

He said: “When I was at Rushall as a kid, I'd had trials at Birmingham City and Aston Villa and people were talking.

“One agent reckoned he knew one or two people over there.

“I was 16 and Graeme Souness was the manager. He did say at the time that had he been in England he would have offered me a couple of years, but being in Portugal it was a bit more unpredictable.

“I went over there and trained with the youth team in the morning and then with the first team in the afternoon.

It was amazing playing alongside Nuno Gomes and players like that at the old Stadium of Light.

“Dean Saunders, Mark Pembridge and Michael Thomas were there at the time and there was a bit of an English feel about the place, but I felt that I wanted to come back.

“I had three options – Fulham, Sunderland and Coventry – and Fulham were in the Second Division at the time. Kevin Keegan was the manager.

“I turned up there and had been there a week when he pulled me to one side and said he wanted to give me a three-and-a-half year contract.

“I was with the first team Monday to Thursday and then with the under-19s on a Friday and played for them on a Saturday. I never looked back.”

After eight years at Craven Cottage, Knight had a two-year stint with home-town club Villa before his move to the Reebok four years ago.

He has since made more than 100 league appearances for Wanderers and is currently a key member of an improving defence under Freedman.

However, Knight takes nothing for granted and, as he moves into the latter years of his career, the man who went from working in a factory and playing street football to twice representing his country at full international level is keen to help the next generation follow the same path.

And if the FA are determined to create more chances, nothing would please Knight more.

He added: “I had a normal job working in a factory in Birmingham, even though I admit I rarely did a full week.

“I had just left school and I needed to get out of the house and get my mum a bit of money.

“I always said I wanted to be a footballer even though my friends thought I was crazy.

“I had friends that were better than me at football, I'll admit that.

“But maybe the fact I was determined to go to training was the reason that scouts turned up and liked me. I had the right attitude.

“I've come from a roughish background and not many people get the chances I have been given.

“I look back now and I've had friends who have passed away for one reason or another, gone to prison or not done much with their lives.

“When I was a kid I'd tag along even when I knew they were doing something wrong but I'd get halfway down the road and turn back around because I would get scared.

“I'd be kicking a ball against the wall under the street-light when they came back.

“I would get jealous that they would be able to go out and buy new trainers and games but it worked out for me because I feel I'm in a good place.

“Life is just about making choices – bad ones and good ones – but it's all about how you recover from them.

“I don't mind going out with the club and talking to kids because I'm from the same background – I suppose you'd say it's an underprivileged one.

“I know these problems first hand because I have been there.”