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I’M MORE THAN A WORKHORSE

Burnley’s Jack Cork has run almost 200 miles this season (the most in the top flight) but he insists...

- by Jack Gaughan @Jack_Gaughan

Jack cork has just finished a PE lesson at St Peter’s Primary, half a mile from Turf Moor. It is the kind of light relief from the Premier League’s daily rigours that the Burnley midfielder knows he needs.

cork throws himself into the session, which includes a fair amount of playful chat from Burnley manager Sean Dyche.

The 28-year-old is a deep thinker and admits to over- analysing results. Defeats have weighed heavily on him during his career — some taking a fortnight to get over — and last year, while in an almighty relegation scrap with Swansea city, he sought to fix what felt like a problem.

cork needed a diversion and he immersed himself in the world of horseracin­g, along with his father alan, the former Wimbledon striker, and wife Freya, a rider herself.

This shared passion, and a plan to become owners, took them to trainer Mick channon’s stables in West Ilsley, Berkshire.

‘We were in his Land rover on the way up to the gallops at his yard,’ grins cork. ‘This pigeon hit my son arlo on the head, flapped about a bit, did a poo on his lap and flew out of the car. It’s lucky when birds poo, isn’t it?’

But channon’s yard was too grand, too big a leap for the rookie cork to take.

‘We wanted a small family thing. I felt like I needed something with the family and to give me something else to think about. To switch off. It really helped.

‘The two years at Swansea were difficult at times. There’s so much pressure, especially in a small place like Swansea. It’s the same here. Both are so reliant on the football. It impacts the businesses, the tourism and how the place develops.

‘You can get stuck in a run and suddenly find yourself in a rut. It’s easy to get into that mindset. a lot of people told me you need to relax, otherwise it takes over.’

Stakes in three racehorses with young trainer archie Watson in Swindon followed. Modest cork neglects to mention that one, arden Pearl, won on the Flat at royal Windsor last august.

‘We’re going to sell her to be a broodmare,’ he adds. ‘ We had another filly but sold her to breed.’

another purchase is expected in the coming weeks and they may eventually go back to channon if this becomes more serious.

For now, the family hobby is proving therapeuti­c. ‘ archie lets us go down and take the kids (as well as arlo, four, cork has a two-year- old daughter, Eden). Horses, chickens, dogs: it’s a nice day out, lovely for them.’

It’s also lovely that the children at St Peter’s could mix with cork and Dyche as part of the Premier League Primary Stars Programme. Burnley excel at community work and that goes a long way to filling Turf Moor.

‘Sometimes clubs can be so far away,’ says cork ahead of a return to Swansea tomorrow. ‘This is a massive thing, especially for the girl who just won the prizes to walk out in front of everyone.

‘The club is such a big part of this small town. The percentage who go is huge — we owe them for that. They pay and it’s only right to give something back.’

at the moment cork is getting out what he puts in. a basic internet search — ‘Jack cork horses’ — produces a web page of the ‘top seven workhorses in the Premier League’.

Since his £10million summer move, he has played every minute of seventh-placed Burnley’s Premier League campaign and, at 197.7miles, run more than anyone else in the top flight.

But he bristles at the idea that this is his main trait. It was cork’s classy manning of the Burnley midfield — not merely legging it about — that earned him an England debut in November.

cork says: ‘You don’t want that reputation of just running around. There has to be more to you. That ethic is down to the manager.’

He revels in the tales which were told by dad alan to Sportsmail last month, when he looked back on the 1988 Fa cup win with Wimbledon. But he wants to correct alan on one thing: he claims dad never told his son that he’d struggle to win another England cap!

‘I did read it and asked him about it!’ laughs cork. ‘He’ll play things down when they’re good, but be all right about it when it’s bad. My mum and dad split up when I was 11. It was good to have him there to talk. He keeps me on my feet.

‘I know a few of those old stories but can’t repeat them! I don’t think he knows I know them. Secretly, he’s proud he played for Wimbledon. They were his best times. He’s just a bit embarrasse­d at the stories coming out. You would get slaughtere­d now.

‘We got the back-end of that sort of stuff when I was coming through at chelsea. You can’t say a word now. When we did our christmas carols we had a Human resources lady watching to make sure we were behaving.’ EA SPORTS support Premier League Primary Stars in developing innovative PE resources to inspire primary school children to get active. Go to PLPrimaryS­tars.com.

‘My dad’s Crazy Gang days? It’s so different now’

 ?? PA ?? Marathon man: Cork in action against Manchester United last month
PA Marathon man: Cork in action against Manchester United last month
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