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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Robbie Hanratty

'It's like he's been here for 10 years': Ben Doak receives ultimate Scotland praise

Ben Doak has slotted into the Scotland squad "like he's been here for 10 years", says John Carver.

The highly-rated Liverpool prodigy has been included in Steve Clarke's 28-man provisional Euro 2024 squad and has been tipped to be this year's big breakthrough star.

Brighton's Billy Gilmour announced himself on the international scene at the last Euros and now Carver has challenged Scotland's youngsters to make their mark over in Germany this summer.

"Billy Gilmour was a great example of that," the Scotland assistant coach explained. 

"He was a young lad, he came in and look where he is now, fantastic. 

"So, we are hoping one or two of the younger guys will do that. 

"For example, Ben Doak, who nothing fazes him. He's fitting into the group straight away, which is quite amazing because I remember when I was a young lad and I went with the first team for the first time, and I was petrified. 

"He's come in and he's fitted into the group. It's like he's been here 10 years.

"If we have to rely on him and he has to go on and perform, we don't fear that he's going to let himself down or the team.

“He will gain from the experience, just like Billy Gilmour did.”

Carver is confident that Doak will thrive with the senior squad and was eager to point out all the key attributes the one-time Celtic starlet possesses. 

“He’s different because he has pace," the 59-year-old added. 

"We have a really good team, we have a good squad, but we don’t have a great deal of pace in that final third and against the top sides to try and open something up. He may just do that.

“We’ve adopted the style of play because of the players we have but he is different and he could come on with 20 minutes to go and just do something special that can get a point for us or three points.

“So we know he’s going to give us something different.

“He was playing as a centre-forward for the 21s, he was playing outside right. And coming on for Liverpool, in that environment at Anfield, with those fans, it was exciting to see him.”

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