Ex-Man Utd midfielder Cooke set for Nth Qld debut

Former Manchester United midfielder Terry Cooke is almost ready to make his debut for North Queensland Fury this weekend.

The 33-year old Englishman, who signed with the club yesterday as a replacement player, will be rushed into Ian Ferguson’s first team if his international clearance comes through before Saturday evening.

Cooke recently moved on from American MLS club Colorado Rapids where made over 100 appearances and found himself on trial with the Fury to come in as replacement for the injured James Robinson.

Ferguson said that once the clearance comes through, Cooke will be straight into the team to add experience to a young midfield.

''We're hoping we'll get the clearance today, if not today then tomorrow,'' Ferguson said.

''If you look across our midfield we've got three under-21s, Osama Malik is 18, Rostyn Griffiths is 21 and David Williams is 21.

''We're a little short on experience in the midfield and I think he'll bring that to us and hopefully hold us together.

''He's got good experience, he's played at a good level. He holds the ball well, has good delivery and works hard. We did some fitness testing with him and he passed that no problem.''

During Cooke’s extensive career he has also played with Sunderland, Birmingham City, Wrexham, Manchester City, Wigan Athletic, Sheffield Wednesday and Grimsby Town.