Burnley midfielder Cork gets England call-up
BURNLEY midfielder Jack Cork was called up to the England squad for the f i rst t i me on Tuesday a head of t he upcoming friendlies wit h Germany and Brazil after yet more withdrawals from Gareth Southgate’s squad.
Cork, for merly of Swa nsea a nd Sout ha mpton, was su mmoned by Eng la nd manager Sout hgate a f ter Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph and Jordan Henderson became the latest withdrawals from the squad for the back-to-back Wembley matches.
“The arriva l of Cork means Gareth Southgate will continue his prepara- t ions at St . George’s Pa rk w it h a 22-man squad,” said a Football Association statement.
Tottenham’s Dele Alli, Harr y Kane and Harr y Winks had already withdrawn from the initial 25-man squad, wit h England receiv ing t hree f urt her setbacks on Tuesday.
“Manchester City duo Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph have returned to t heir club af ter being ruled out of England’s fort hcoming f i xtures,” t he FA said in an earlier statement.
“Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson will a lso miss out on t he back-to-back games against Germany and Brazil at Wembley Stadium through injur y.”
Henderson had been due to arrive at St George’s Park – England’s training base – later in the week after missing Liverpool’s win against West Ham with a thigh problem.
Cit y winger Sterl i ng is out wit h a back complaint and Delph – looking for his first England cap since November 2015 – injured his calf towards the end of Sunday’s 3-1 home victor y over Arsenal.
Alli, Kane and Winks have a lready pulled out wit h injur y issues of t heir own, with Southgate bringing Michael Kea ne a nd Ja ke Liver more into t he squad.
One consolation for England is that Chelsea defender Gar y Cahill trained on Tuesday after undergoing a fitness assessment with the Premier League champions follow ing last weekend’s 1-0 win over Manchester United.
England, who play world champions Germany on Friday and then Braz i l on November 14, were a l ready without Adam Lallana, Danny Welbeck, Nathaniel Chalobah, Tom Heaton and Ross Bark ley.