Injury blow for Cork (From Daily Echo)
When news happens, text SDE and your photos or videos to 80360. Or contact us by email and phone.
Fears Jack Cork could miss start of the Premier League season
4:40pm Wednesday 8th August 2012 in Sport
By Gordon Simpson, Senior Sports Reporter
Jack Cork's injury is seen to last night
Jack Cork is a major doubt for the start of the Premier League season after injuring his ankle in a 1-1 draw at Bristol City last night.
The midfielder, who played in every game of Saints’ Championship promotion winning campaign, did the damage not long after coming on for his first preseason match.
Cork has been away with Team GB at the Olympics and was supposed to get 45 minutes of action for Saints to bed back in ready for the big kick-off at Manchester City a week on Sunday.
However, after going over on his ankle he is now very much touch and go to be ready that quickly.
Saints boss Nigel Adkins said: “Unfortunately we’ve lost Jack Cork by the look of it.
“He’s got his ankle all strapped up now.
“We will have to wait and assess but it looks as though he’s gone over on his ankle.
“That’s not ideal because it’s his first period of time in pre-season and we wanted to get more from him but it looks like he’s going to have a spell on the sidelines now.” The game itself was a generally quiet affair in terms of chances.
Jon Stead gave City the lead just before half-time but Billy Sharp levelled things up in injury time at the end of the game.
Related links
Adkins was pleased with the progression he saw from his team.
“The KPI (key performance indicator) before the game was how we press the ball and we’ve been working on that so we’ve got an assertive press in the attacking third of the pitch to win the ball high up,” he said.
“We played a 4-4-3 system all preseason.
It’s new to the group of players that we’ve got an I think we’ve progressed very well through the pre-season.
“The way we pressed the ball, especially in the first half, we were very assertive with it, won the ball high up the pitch and on the odd occasion that we lost the ball we won it back very quickly.
That was the main KPI that I wanted out of them and I was very pleased.
“Second half we changed it round a bit to introduce Jack Cork whose been with the GB squad and Steven Davis who needed game time so maybe the tempo wasn’t as aggressive as the first half.
“First half we had some good opportunities to score and second half as well.
“Billy came on there and the one occasion we did put the ball in the aerial position for Rickie to knock down Billy has gone and scored.
“It’s different ways to win football but the ethos is still to pass it and pass it quickly and it was very pleasing when you look at it.”
Comments(17)
OSPREYSAINT
says...
5:35pm Wed 8 Aug 12
notaclue
says...
5:43pm Wed 8 Aug 12
Perhaps Nigel thinks that our defence is so good now that we can do away with a goal keeper and play with 3 up front?
I like it!
Confucious
says...
6:05pm Wed 8 Aug 12
Of course it's important to get the various calibrations of worry lined up and timetabled. I told the St Marys' customer relations guy, Kevin, that I've already done bothered and then moved on through perturbed, apprehensive and disturbed. Today I switched to anxious which I consider one step before panic which would be due tomorrow.
Kevin said the underlings at the club had done the same but there was still vexation, jitteryness, woe and torment to go before panic is due.
As always, having total faith in the club, I've therefore resolved not to panic tomorrow. Kevin said it would also help to simply dread one day at a time - or indeed take the really critical decision not to think about it.
Top bloke Kevin.
Exiled Saint - front line eastern outpost of Gosport
says...
6:05pm Wed 8 Aug 12
The thought of Rooney RVP and Aguero et al running at Jos and Jose is terrifying enough but the thought of them running at Seabourne and Jack Stephens is enough to induce heart failure.
Fatty x Ford Worker
says...
6:08pm Wed 8 Aug 12
Baddesley Bill
says...
6:18pm Wed 8 Aug 12
Fatty x Ford Worker wrote:Have you ever been right with a prediction?
Skanks 6 Saints 0.
D4n1el
says...
7:24pm Wed 8 Aug 12
Tirau Dan
says...
8:42pm Wed 8 Aug 12
D4n1el wrote:cos it's better than the new one!
Does anyone know why we were playing in the old away kit? Perhaps it'll be used as our third kit this season?
insane saint
says...
8:50pm Wed 8 Aug 12
ghk230473
says...
9:41pm Wed 8 Aug 12
Saintsayer II
says...
10:50pm Wed 8 Aug 12
St Retford
says...
10:59pm Wed 8 Aug 12
Saintsayer II wrote:I wouldn't rule it out. He must lie in bed at night thinking that, yeah, he's won the Champions League and may well be the best player of all time but can he get a deep fried Mars bar from Ted's Fish & Chips whenever he feels like it? It must eat away at him wherever he goes like the nagging sense he's left the iron on. There's only one way to fix it, Lionel; sign up.
I've heard we are waiting for a definite NO from Messi before we look for anybody else
batesieboy
says...
6:31am Thu 9 Aug 12
notaclue wrote:You really do not have a clue, do you?!
“We played a 4-4-3 system all preseason."????
?
Perhaps Nigel thinks that our defence is so good now that we can do away with a goal keeper and play with 3 up front?
I like it!
batesieboy
says...
6:36am Thu 9 Aug 12
batesieboy wrote:sssshhhhh...No-one will notice the extra player.
notaclue wrote:You really do not have a clue, do you?!
“We played a 4-4-3 system all preseason."????
?
Perhaps Nigel thinks that our defence is so good now that we can do away with a goal keeper and play with 3 up front?
I like it!
dopplershift
says...
10:02am Thu 9 Aug 12
Tirau Dan wrote:It is better! but probably the reason is our new away kit would have clashed slightly with their home kit and our home kit definitely would.
D4n1el wrote: Does anyone know why we were playing in the old away kit? Perhaps it'll be used as our third kit this season?cos it's better than the new one!
D4n1el
says...
12:25pm Thu 9 Aug 12
dopplershift wrote:Maybe that means it will be our third kit this season? And as much as I loved the old kits, I'm getting used to the new ones. I can see what they were trying to achieve; making the kits purely red and white. Plus I'd be happy with whatever kit we have as long ad the colours don't change, because they're still the same saints wearing the kit.
Tirau Dan wrote:It is better! but probably the reason is our new away kit would have clashed slightly with their home kit and our home kit definitely would.D4n1el wrote: Does anyone know why we were playing in the old away kit? Perhaps it'll be used as our third kit this season?cos it's better than the new one!
Seedhouse the Unrepentant says...
5:10pm Wed 8 Aug 12