With Saints suffering a crisis in the centre of defence Nigel Adkins might just think outside of the box in replacing the injured Jose Fonte.
With Saints looking highly unlikely to bring in a new centre half to replace Jose Fonte ahead of the vital relegation six pointer at Aston Villa, Nigel Adkins has some tough thinking to be done, the obvious answer would be to slot in Jos Hooiveld into centre half, however after conceding three goals at Stoke and Hooivelds appearances this season seeing goals leaked in great numbers the manager might just be considering something different.
If Nathaniel Clyne is fit to resume his right back role it could free Jack ork up to be used where he is more needed, again the obvious choice would be midfield, but Adkins has a plethora of options he could use centrally in midfield but not many in the centre of defence and playing Cork there might offer a lot more than playing Hooiveld ther, mobility for a start, Villas front line is fast, Cork would be far better suited to battling them for pace than Hooiveld who to be frank has struggled to adjust to the pace of the premiership both physically and mentally.
In his first spell at Saints Cork did play in the centre of defence and its a position that he has also played at some of his other clubs, but in his current spell he has only featured there once, in the league cup defeat at Palace last season, however desperate times need desperate measures and this could be a real option for Adkins who having see Cork play so well at right back might ask him to transfer his versatility to the centre of defence.
Personally if we havent signed a centre half I would go with it, in short we have nothing to lose and having seen the results when Hooiveld has played and the goals leaked, 20 goals in six starts plus two as sub, I think Cork offers a real quality option at centre half.