Burnley star backs Ings for England ahead of St Mary’s return
Jack Cork has backed Saints star Danny Ings for an England recall as he and his Burnley team bid to stop his goalscoring threat at St Mary's on Saturday.
Ings won his only Three Lions cap to date in 2015 under Roy Hodgson but his 17 goals in all competitions for Southampton make him an outstanding candidate for inclusion when Southgate names his squad for England’s March friendlies against Italy and Denmark.
That should be a shoo-in for Ings, barring injury, because England will be without injured frontmen Harry kane and Marcus Rashford for those games while Jamie Vardy – the only Englishman with more Premier League goals than Ings this term – continues to rule himself out of contention.
Cork has never played alongside Ings, despite their shared history at both Burnley and Southampton, but is certain the Winchester-born attacker has what it takes to do the business at international level.
Jack Cork has backed Danny Ings for an England recallhttps://t.co/Hss75FH2GT
— PA Dugout (@PAdugout) February 14, 2020
Cork said: “Fair play to Danny, he’s been great. He’s scored a lot of goals for Southampton. You look at what he’s done for that club this season and you put a lot of it down to him.
“Looking at international things for him, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be included.”
This weekend, Cork’s focus will be on stopping Ings’ threat as Burnley travel to St Mary’s after some great recent form.
Wins over Leicester City and Manchester United, plus a 0-0 draw with Arsenal, have lifted Sean Dyche’s men to level on points with their hosts, but two places above Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side in 11th place in the table.
Cork played for Southampton for four years between 2011 and 2015 and is looking forward to getting a good reception from the home crowd.
“It’s always nice when you go back to your old ground, especially when you left on good terms. It’ll be nice to see some old faces and try to get a result,” he added.
