The Bottle of Claret Has a Cork!

Burnley boss Brian Laws has beaten the transfer deadline to land Chelsea midfielder Jack Cork.

The 20-year-old has joined the Clarets on loan from the Barclays Premier League leaders until the end of the season.

He becomes Burnley’s sixth new signing since Laws took charge in the middle of last month.

‘I am very pleased to get Jack in from Chelsea. We will feel we have got a good acquisition to the squad,’ said the Clarets’ chief.

‘I have tracked him for quite a while. He’s played a lot of games in the Championship and has been greatly admired for his football.

‘It’s an addition to the midfield where I feel we need to strengthen, having picked up a couple of little injuries and niggles.

‘He’s an England under-21 international and I spoke to Stuart Pearce about him and Stuart Gray has trained with him with England so we know a lot about him.

‘He is very good on the ball, can deal with it in tight situations, doesn’t give it away cheaply and he’s a quality player.

‘He has got good energy levels and he can pick a pass and we need that quality on the ball.

‘I think his qualities will embrace the fact that we want to play good football.’

Cork is highly regarded at Chelsea, where he signed a new three-year contract last summer, and travelled with Carlo Ancelotti’s squad to watch the Blues` 2-1 win at Burnley at the weekend.

‘Chelsea were delighted to do it because they feel he’s ready now to play Premier League games,’ Laws added.

‘He’s been involved in their squad for the last few games. He came up with the team for the game here on Saturday and stayed over and we got the paperwork done today.’

Cork is yet to make a senior appearance for the Blues since coming through the youth ranks at Stamford Bridge.

But the central midfield player, who has also operated as a defender, has gained extensive first-team experience during loan spells with Coventry, Southampton, Watford, Scunthorpe and Bournemouth.

The son of former Wimbledon and Sheffield United striker Alan, Cork has made over 100 league appearances, including 21 for Coventry during a successful four-month loan spell in the Championship earlier this season.