Jack Cork wants England 21 shot

The 21-year-old, who captained the England Under 19 squad to make 2008’s European Championships, has been given limited time on the field during Pearce’s tenure having featured on just six occasions. However, since being given the nod by Clarets manager Brian Laws in the away defeat against Middlesbrough the young starlet has been chomping at the bit to impress.

England’s U21s finished second in Group Nine behind Greece and qualified as one of the best-placed runners up. And as Pearce’s squad selection looms ahead of the tie at Carrow Road on Friday, October 8th, Cork is desperate to make an impression in hope of making the final squad that could be flying to Denmark for the tournament in June.

He said: “If I’m fit, hopefully I’ll be involved and I’m looking forward to it. I’ve not started yet this season so hopefully with the way I played the last two times when I came on I did enough to impress them and be involved. He has involved me in a few more games than he did last season so I’ve been pleased with that.

“The experience is unbelievable. Whenever I get picked, even if I’m not involved, I do love going away because you’ve got to take it as it comes. It’s a big privilege. When I go away with England, it’s nice to see how they all do and catch up with them. Obviously I saw Danny Rose against Bristol City. You just see how they’ve been doing at their clubs and get little bits from them when you play and you train.

“When I come back it’s a different set of people and you pick up things here and there on the way. In the last championships when they lost to Germany in the final, a lot of players got a lot of plaudits and were linked with big clubs. I think with Adam Johnson it helped him on his way and a few players got a few boosts from that tournament. It’s playing for England at the end of the day, and in a major tournament it would be unbelievable.”

He added: “After the under 21s the only step after that is the full team so you’ve got to take it before you lose your chance. Hopefully we can have a good run and that would be brilliant. If I wasn’t playing football I don’t think I would have gone to half the places I’ve been to across the world. It’s a great experience, you get to see different cultures and how people act in different situations. It is really good and I really enjoy that part of it.”

But his current focus is on maintaining his recent good form at Turf Moor and helping the Clarets to another three points against Hull City tonight.

He added: “It’s just took the game against Preston and another couple of games for Chris and myself to take our chance. We seem to have taken it and now with the competition in the team you have to take your chance.

“It’s hard for us because we know there are people with quality ready to take our position. It’s good competition for places.

“It’s been hard in the last couple of weeks because it’s been Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday. It takes it out of you a little bit. It is a bit tiring but we keep producing the performances and we’ve just got to keep trying to win the games. That’s what we want to be doing and getting to the top end of the table.

“It’s going to be a big game with two big teams with a good fanbase. We were both in the Premier League last year and it will be a good game. But if we play like we’ve been playing in the last few games there’s no doubt we can take something from it.

“We do need a win really. It’s a massive game because if we don’t, with the way QPR are playing and keep winning at the minute, it’s going to push us too far behind. A win would be ideal but we just need to put in a good performance like we have done.

“I think with the squad we’ve got, the amount of players we’ve got and the talent we’ve got, if we are there towards the end of the season I know we’ll do well because as people get tired or aren’t playing so well we’ve got someone who can do the job just as well. I’m really enjoying it.

“It didn’t really feel like I went away in the summer. It just felt like I came back and slotted back in. The lads and the staff are really good and it’s going really well for me. I’ve got another year left after this so I’ll see what happens. Obviously if it goes well for me I’ll look at it after that. It’s something I’ve got to look at.”