Burnley’s Cork gets first England call
LONDON: Burnley midfielder Jack Cork was called up to the England squad for the first time on Tuesday ahead of the upcoming friendlies with Germany and Brazil after yet more withdrawals from Gareth Southgate’s squad.
Cork, formerly of Swansea and Southampton, was summoned by England manager Southgate after Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph and Jordan Henderson became the latest withdrawals from the squad for the back-to-back Wembley matches.
“The arrival of Cork means Gareth Southgate will continue his preparations at St. George’s Park with a 22-man squad,” said a Football Association statement.
Tottenham’s Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Harry Winks had already withdrawn
from the initial 25-man squad, with England receiving three further setbacks on Tuesday. “Manchester City duo Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph have returned to their club after being ruled out of England’s forthcoming fixtures,” the FA said in an earlier statement.
“Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson will also miss out on the back-to-back games against Germany and Brazil at Wembley Stadium through injury.” Henderson had been due to arrive at St George’s Park-England’s training baselater in the week after missing Liverpool’s win against West Ham with a thigh problem.
City winger Sterling is out with a back complaint and Delph-looking for his first England cap since November 2015 — injured his calf towards the end of Sunday’s win against Arsenal.
Alli, Kane and Winks have already pulled out with injury issues of their own, with Southgate bringing in Michael Keane and Jake Livermore. One consolation for England is that Chelsea defender Gary Cahill trained on Tuesday after undergoing a fitness assessment with the Premier League champions following last weekend’s 1-0 win over Manchester United. England, who play world champions Germany on Friday and then Brazil on November 14, were already without Adam Lallana, Danny Welbeck, Nathaniel Chalobah, Tom Heaton and Ross Barkley. —AFP