Knights said Horsburgh's statement, reported in the Herald Sun on Tuesday, was not in accordance with his intentions to assemble a young group that will "come through together".
"Last year's draft is a good indication of my philosophy," Knights said. "We took all our draft picks and we didn't trade them away.
"We couldn't get a deal for Kepler (Bradley) or Mark (Johnson), and we took a 17-year-old, five 18-year-olds, a 19-year-old and a 21-year-old in Jarrod Atkinson as a rookie.
"As a club we will look to add to our list with more youth in this year's draft. I wouldn't have thought that we'd be trading aggressively.
"If an opportunity came up to bring a player into the football club that was of mature age that could help our list, we would look at it. It would be remiss of us not to.
"But again I state that will be at the end of the year. It's not on the agenda now."
Knights also said it was "important for our club to have another good draft this year" as the Bombers go about rebuilding their list.
"The vision I have for the club, and the board and myself are united on the vision, is that we want to bring a group through together," he said.
"We're going to take our draft picks, we're going to give our young players an opportunity to play, and we're not going to do it halfway – we're going to be very aggressive right from the start.
"Hawthorn hasn't achieved ultimate success yet but Geelong did that last year, and they took a large chunk of time to put that team together, and a large chunk of time to get them to a level of game learning.
"Then, they achieved the ultimate with a superb team effort over a long period of time. Hawthorn looks like they're heading in the right direction big time, and they did take their draft picks and bring a group through together.
"It is fair to say, that as a coach and as a club, that's what we're looking to do."
The issue has been fuelled by Horsburgh's public claims that experienced Bombers Jason Johnson and Damien Peverill are "not going to win us a flag", which is why Knights is limiting their senior opportunities.
While the coach said both players understood his stance of playing youth, he was disappointed with the way Horsburgh isolated them from premiership plans after a combined 318 senior games.
"[Horsburgh] holds a really strong and powerful position, and at times, he's going to need to speak on behalf of the football club," Knights said.
"I'm disappointed the way it's played out, particularly for Jason and Pev, because they've been fantastic and superb players for the footy club.
"Obviously the chairman of the footy club has the opportunity to speak on behalf of the footy club at times.
"What I will do at the next board meeting is I will raise the scenario, and do it through the right manner and channels."
Knights added that both Johnson and Peverill have responded "with strength" after being told that younger players will get preference.
"Initially, there was a little bit of disappointment there but once I explained how and why and the vision of the club, because they're guys with such huge character, they've taken a role in the last three weeks that has been amazing," he said.
"They've been sensational on the track, they've been helping players along."
When asked if the chairman should leave on-field matters up to the coaching staff, Knights produced a wry smile.
"I think that would be utopia, there's no doubt about that," he said.
"Again, at board level, I'll raise it."
