The embattled coach, who has lost his last two games by a combined 174 points to see his side slip out of finals contention, says he plans to fulfil his two-year contract.
He also believes chairman David Evans and CEO Ian Robson have “full faith” in his direction.
“The reality is I’ve got a legal binding contract for the next two seasons,” Knights said on Thursday.
“I plan to honour that contract and stay to course, and I’m solely committed to the players and the Essendon footy club.
“I believe we’re on the right track. Yes, the last couple of weeks we’ve despised losing and it’s really painful but it was only three weeks ago we had a great win against St Kilda and the future was there for everyone to see.
“There was a stage in the year when we were five-five and playing really good footy and there was great future, and the team was playing great two-way footy.
“We’re planning for next year, we’re pushing on with our structures, we’re looking at things in the off-season, so from my perspective it’s stay on the course and get out there on the grass today.”
Knights said he had not spoken to Evans or Robson about his contract since Hird on Wednesday expressed an interest in coaching at Windy Hill.
He also said he had not contacted Hird and did not plan to in the near future, although he didn’t rule out talking to him about an assistant’s role.
“I really can’t control what James is thinking or have views on it because at this stage, it’s a little bit irrelevant. I don’t feel the need to ring James. I just need to focus on the things I can control.”
While Knights said he would prefer not to have such distractions ahead of the two final games, he felt he had to be “resilient and tough enough” to deal with such issues.
“You’ve just got to stay focused on the game itself against the Brisbane Lions. What’s happening externally is a little bit irrelevant and out of my control, to a degree,” he said.
Knights insisted he had not lost his passion for the job despite the frustrating season.
“I feel strong, I feel energetic and enthusiastic because the players I deal with on a daily basis, Mark McVeigh and Jake Melksham and Jobe Watson and Scott Gumbleton, they give you that energy and enthusiasm,” he said.
“You can see it in their eyes they want to make it big time and take this club back there.
“They know it’s a challenge and they’re as gutted as I am about the way we’ve been playing the last fortnight.”
