Motivated by tragedy, Anthony Knockaert wants to dedicate promotion to the brother he lost

And nothing would make the Albion star happier than to be able to dedicate promotion to the man who remains his driving force.

Knockaert is being fired through the final push by the memory of his sibling Steve, who died just as Anthony was making the grade as a professional footballer.

He says a few words when he goes out on to the pitch and again when he scores a goal.

And he dedicates all his successes – with Guingamp, Leicester City, fleetingly Standard Liege and now the Seagulls – to the man who left him almost seven years ago.

Knockaert, on target twice in the midweek win over QPR, told The Argus: “I am always thinking about him.

“I was 17 when he passed away and it was at the time of my first professional game. It was a shock for me and all of my family.

“I am very happy for him now and I think about him all the time. He was a great footballer as well but he passed away when he was 28 years old.

“It was a sad time for me but I always believe I can make him proud. Every game I play for him. I always do my best for him.”

Knockaert, pictured, was a long way from his home town of Roubaix, near the Belgian border, and just starting out at his first pro club Guingamp, in Brittany, when he heard the tragic news.

He does not go into too much detail but said: “It was a heart attack.

“He was a very good footballer, as good as me, and he could have been a professional but he had some bad influences when he was young. Something happened. But that’s life.”

Knockaert was under the wing of assistant coach Eric Blahic at Guingamp.

The then third-tier club had moved in after a potential move to Leeds for the young winger had broken down.

They were just setting out on a rise from third tier to first when Knockaert was affected by tragedy.

Blahic told The Argus: “It was very sudden. As I recall, the club organised a small plane for him to get back very quickly to the north of France.

“We surrounded him with support. It was hard to know what had happened. He had spoken to the people closest to him but he wasn’t saying too much. We did everything we could to look after him.

“He was very affected by it but he decided deep within himself to use it as a motivation I think, to fight every day and progress.

“It is very hard to put yourself in someone’s place and it was an extremely hard period of his life but my view is that it just reinforced his desire to let nothing slip away and to be what he is today. It was his motor.

“We spoke a bit at the time. Each time he scored, he looked to the sky and with his arms out – and at the club we all knew who that was for.”

The reason for Knockaert’s desire on the pitch is little known this side of the Channel. It fired him through a successful time at Leicester – until he fell out of favour in the Premier League.

Now both his current and past English clubs are upsetting the odds to challenge for honours at the top end of their divisions.

After a lull following his initial impact, Knockaert had re-emerged as one of Albion’s game-changers with goals in each of the last three home games plus a supply of assists.

It is easy to see him as the Seagulls’ answer to the Foxes wideman who also arrived from France and took some of his limelight – Riyad Mahrez.

“I knew Riyad Mahrez young, I knew Anthony young,” said French talent scout Christophe Demougeot.

“When Anthony was 16, 17, 18, he had no less quality than Riyad. After that, things can happen, you can have a bit of luck. You can be in favour with a manager.

“Today Riyad has a bit more a pace than Anthony. He has that pace you need right at the top level. Apart from that, in terms of technical quality, mentality, spirit, Anthony has no reason to envy Riyad Mahrez.”

Demougeot also talks about how the loss of his brother had a profound effect on the young Knockaert. That motivation and faith will be present through the coming weeks.

“We still have the confidence with us,” the wideman told The Argus. “We need to believe and believe and believe and it is just about winning games.”

As well as the on-field gestures, Knockaert goes public with his affection for his brother when Steve’s birthday comes around in August.

“Happy birthday to my brother who passed away too early. I give my best to make you proud of me. I love you,” he tweeted in both English and French last year.

But there is another way in which he has perhaps been influenced by tragedy. And it is one Blahic is happy to talk about.

Un joyeuxanniversairea mongrand frère partitrop tôt...Je donnele maximum pour quetusoisfierde moi. Je t'aime grand frère 😥❤️ #RIP

— Anthony Knockaert(@AKnockaert) August 12, 2015

“A year-and-a-half ago I lost my sister from cancer at the age of 48,” he said. “Anthony contacted me straight away.

“He said ‘I just heard the bad news, Coach. I’m with you. I’ve been through the same. Don’t give up, keep going’.

“Even as a very young man really, he said some very sympathetic touching things. He hadn’t forgotten how we supported him at that time.”