Burnley FC stars earn international caps

Striker Chris Iwelumo and Jack Cork both made substitute appearances.

Burnley’s on-loan midfielder Cork was introduced in stoppage time as England Under 21s beat Romania 2-1 in their 2011 UEFA European Championship play-off first leg at Carrow Road.

Cork came on for Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere - who has joined up with the full squad for tonight’s game with Montenegro - after Sunderland’s Jordan Henderson and Manchester United’s Chris Smalling had already made sure of the victory.

Elsewhere, Iwelumo replaced QPR’s n-power Chamionship player of the month for September Jamie Mackie in the 76th minute as Scotland were beaten 1-0 in their European Championship qualifier against the Czech Republic in Prague.

Romain Hubnik scored the only goal of the game just minutes before Iwelumo’s introduction, as Scotland caused a stir by playing what resembled a 4-6-0 formation, with no recognised strikers.

But there was no such luck for Clarets defenders Andre Bikey or David Edgar in their countries’ respective stalemates.

Edgar’s wait for a full international debut for Canada continues, as he failed to play any part in their 2-2 friendly draw against Ukraine in Kiev.

Canada led 2-0 during the first half with Norwich’s Simeon Jackson getting the first goal.

Meanwhile, Bikey didn’t even make the bench as Cameroon could only pick up a point in a surprise 1-1 draw against DR Congo in Garoua.

Javier Clemente’s Indomitable Lions fell behind to a strike from West Ham defender Herita Ilunga after 37 minutes in their 2012 African Nations Cup qualifier, and had to rely on an own goal from Miala Nkulukutu 10 minutes after the break to rescue a point in Group E.

Tonight, Iwelumo and Cork will hope to add to their caps.

Scotland take on World and European champions Spain at Hampden, while Cork is with Stuart Pearce’s England Under 21s in Romania as they look to earn an aggregate success.

Iwelumo said: “It is always going to be tough to qualify when you come up against such quality opposition and it is just a case of trying to scrap for as many points as you can because everyone slips up somewhere down the line.

“We’ve just got to go into every game with a lot of confidence, whether it be against Spain or Liechtenstein, but there is a great club atmosphere in the camp at the moment, so hopefully we can use that and take it into the game.”