WHAT a week to be a Claret!

First a 1-0 win at Southampton lifts us to level on points with Arsenal and Liverpool and then Jack Cork – eventually – gets an England call up.

Without wanting to get all misty-eyed about things, I think it’s fair to say that we’re on an incredible journey and I really don’t know how it’s going to end.

Cork getting a call-up from Gareth Southgate is no less than he deserves, I’m just surprised he wasn’t in the initial squad and then the first-choice replacement when players started dropping like flies.

I’ve advocated his inclusion on these pages already and I hope that Southgate has the sense to give him some game time in what are two, let’s face it, quite meaningless friendlies.

I also hope that Southgate will start making more regular trips to the Turf and he sees that James Tarkowski, Nick Pope and stand-in skipper Ben Mee may also be worth a look.

I don’t want to get too greedy but all three of them are performing better – both individually and collectively – than a lot of the lads that have been selected by the England boss.

I think the fact we’re even talking about players performing well enough to warrant England call-ups shows just what an incredible season we’re having.

At Southampton last weekend we had to soak up a lot of pressure and relied on a couple of fantastic stops from Pope but we still came away with three points and another clean sheet.

Saints boss Mauricio Pellegrino was left frustrated after the match and felt his side were better in ever department… expect the one that mattered of course.

Talking of which, what a fantastic header from Sam Vokes.

The striker may have slipped down the pecking order this season but he’s such a fantastic professional and goals like the one on Saturday show why he is so important to this squad.

Sean Dyche – still linked with a move to Everton despite it seemingly being nailed on that Sam Allardyce will take it – threw Vokes and Ashley Barnes on at St Mary’s and it proved to be a masterstroke.

He’s talked already this week about him and his staff learning more about the Premier League and what is required and win's like Saturday show that’s the case.

If we can keep hold of him then absolutely anything could happen this season… and when did we last feel like that?