As a self-confessed 'Gooner' he used to cheer his name.

Now his prowess in the penalty area threatens to push one of his Highbury heroes another step nearer to the Third Division.

Leon Knight loves scoring goals for Albion. Last Saturday's clincher against leaders Plymouth at Withdean was his 20th of the season and 19th in the League.

He must be the last striker in the Second Division that Tony Adams wants to be confronting right now, with his Wycombe side stranded at the foot of the table.

Whatever respect Adams has for Knight is, however, nothing compared to the admiration Albion's striking ace has for the man who will be in the opposing dugout at the Causeway Stadium on Saturday.

"I have been an Arsenal supporter since birth really," Knight revealed. "I was more an Ian Wright fan, but I liked Tony Adams because he used to go up and collect all the cups!

"I used to go to games at Highbury. Tony Adams was captain then and he was a terrific player.

"I haven't seen another defender or leader like him. He was an absolute diamond to have in your team.

"He had his problems, but because of the man he is he overcame them and became even stronger."

After beating the bottle, incarceration and marital disharmony, Adams has wandered into another pile of trouble at Wycombe.

So far he has been to football management what John Lydon is to life in the Australian jungle. You don't quite know what to expect.

Both have veered violently between talking of quitting and then, in the next breadth, apparently enjoying their new careers.

Wycombe have won only three of 18 matches since Adams took charge, but Knight is convinced his leadership qualities and winning mentality will serve the Buckinghamshire strugglers well in the long run.

"I knew he wanted to get into management. His name was popping about in connection with the Reading job and others.

"I am probably a bit surprised he went to Wycombe, but when you are starting off as a manager you have got to start somewhere.

"They had a good result the other day against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. He has got a difficult job, but he is a strong man.

"He knows about the game. He knows it isn't going to happen overnight and I think he will get it right in the end, even if they do go down."

An immediate improvement in Adams' fortunes looks unlikely. Wycombe were walloped 4-0 at Withdean on Boxing Day by an Albion side which did not include Knight.

"It was disappointing to miss that game, because I don't think I should have been booked at QPR," he said.

"The main thing was we won comfortably, even though they had two men sent off. Now we want to put one over them again.

"They didn't look the best side that day. They looked a bit shaken up, but you can expect that when a team is bottom of the league.

"They have been getting a few good results lately, a draw here and there."

Albion's toppling of the table-toppers last Saturday stretched their unbeaten run at fortress Withdean to six matches, including four victories.

Seven defeats out of nine on the road is, perhaps, cause for concern ahead of a hat-trick of away games, with Luton and Grimsby looming after Wycombe.

Not according to the ever-ebullient Knight. "I think we are a strong team home and away," he said. "Some silly mistakes have let us down now and again.

"Everyone has been on about the run of away games coming up but that doesn't really matter.

"When we go away the fans are awesome. They come out in their thousands and I don't see the away games as a problem.

"We've had a few bad results away, but I think come Saturday and the next couple of weeks you will see us really turn it on and turn the heat up on the clubs above us."

Leon Knight in red-hot mood could just push the man who wore the red of Arsenal with such pride over the edge. Come five o'clock on Saturday Adams might be declaring: "I'm a centre half, get me out of here!"