Cork ready for Ricoh England under-21 duty

Added: (Tue Oct 06 2009)

Pressbox (Press Release) - When the England under-21s arrive at the Ricoh Arena to face Macedonia, on October 9, one person who will not need a match ticket is Jack Cork.

The 20-year-old Coventry midfielder, on loan from Chelsea, has been called up to England under-21 manager Stuart Pearce’s squad and he hopes to be involved when the Red Lions line up against England’s young lions at the home of the Sky Blues - even though the last call up caught him off guard.

“I got called up for the last game on standby. It was a bit of a surprise, I was preparing for the two-week international break and I had two or three missed calls and messages on my mobile saying I had been called up to the squad and they needed me to fly out to Macedonia – I was pretty excited,” said Cork.

“It would be great to be involved again at the Ricoh, I was only called up on standby last time so I wasn’t expecting to play but, because it is England, it is fantastic just to be involved.

“Hopefully I made an impression in training and off the pitch and I want to use my time at Coventry to impress and hopefully I can be included in the next squad and maybe get some pitch time.

“I’m one of only about three players who have been in the England squads since under-16s level and it gets harder the further you go up – there is a lot more responsibility on the players.”

Cork also revealed his new manager shares a few qualities with England under-21 boss Pearce.

“Stuart is a nice bloke and a good coach but if he is annoyed at anything he will let you know!

“He’s quite straightforward, he won’t lie to you or anything like that and he will let you know what the score is.

“I never really spoke to Chris before I arrived at Coventry but he’s a great manager, and works similarly to the way Stuart Pearce works with the under-21s, he’s honest with the players and a good man manager.”

The hard-working youngster appears to have already impressed some of the right people after being given a new three-year deal with Premier League giants Chelsea.

But it has not always been an easy ride for Cork, the son of former City striker and reserve team manager, Alan Cork. A quick Wikipedia search reveals an unusual secret about the softly-spoken Londoner.

“I used to get a lot of stick about my middle names! Frank was the name of my granddad and Porteous is my mother’s maiden name, so the thinking was right but I think it just didn’t really come off like my parents planned!

“I had a bit of a hard time going through school so I used to lie and tell people I didn’t have any middle names!”

Jack Frank Porteous Cork has been impressed by what he has seen at the Ricoh Arena so far and, having made a solid start to his initial short-term loan spell, hinted he could be here for a little longer.

“I want to do well for the team and get a few good results. I came here because I knew a few of the players and I knew that when they play to their best they can do well.

“Hopefully we can get as many wins together as possible coming up to Christmas and then I’ll look at it from there and see if the manager and the club want to extend the loan deal - it all depends on how well I do and how things are at the end of the year.”

Tickets for England under-21s against Macedonia under-21s at the Ricoh Arena on Friday October are available by ringing 0871 220 0260 or online at www.seetickets.com.

Media enquiries:
Simon Gilbert
Advent Communications
2 Edison Building
Electric Wharf
Sandy Lane
Coventry CV1 4JA
Tel: 024 7663 3636
http://www.advent-communications.co.uk