TOMMY Conway was unsurprised to see Middlesbrough wide boy Ben Doak back up his off-field patter with a standout performance on it in the win over Croatia – and now he’s hoping his club mate can build on his stellar showing and help him score his first goal for Scotland.
Doak, the Liverpool teenager who is on loan at Riverside Stadium this season, was outstanding for the national team in their Nations League match at a packed Hampden on Friday evening.
The former Celtic winger was involved in the build-up to the strike which substitute John McGinn, the Tartan Army hero who he kept out of the starting line-up, scored with four minutes of regulation time remaining.
Striker Conway, who started up front for Steve Clarke’s side in the Group A1 fixture, has enjoyed teaming up with the confident player in the English Championship this term and was always confident his fellow “Boro boy” could justify his selection.
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“He's got a bright future ahead of him,” he said. “We're lucky to have him with Scotland and I'm lucky to have him at Middlesbrough. For how long, we don't know. But, yes, he's a special player.
“We just want to get him the ball, because we know, especially in a game with 10 men, he can cause carnage. He's created something for us and ultimately, that's the winning goal.
“He's a dream to play with, because he's so direct. You know he's going to put that step over, get to the byline and put the ball across, like he did against Croatia. I think, game by game, he's getting better and better from what I've seen at club level. He's now taken it on to the international stage as well, which is a joy to see.”
Conway added: “He's a humble, down-to-earth boy. But there's times where he knows he's a good player. You need that, don't you? It's not a bad thing. I think it's important to have that as a footballer. He's got that in abundance, but it's not like it comes across in a bad way.
“I've always said that for some people it can come across as a bit of a let down. But the way Doakey does it, it almost comes across like, ‘Fair play’. He's a young boy coming through and you can see why he's so sure of himself. You're almost drawn to that side of him.
“We do enjoy it, I’m not going to lie. We have a little joke about it, to be fair. We call ourselves the Boro Boys, Smoggies. Hopefully we can continue that at club level and hopefully again in March when we rejoin up. It would be lovely.”
The 6ft 1in 22-year-old is hoping he gets the nod for the meeting with Poland in Warsaw tonight and admitted that he is desperate to open his account for his adopted homeland and help them record another win.
“It was good to start on Friday, really good,” he said. “Obviously, it was my first start at Hampden and it was a special feeling. I can't put it into words. I just want to do that again and again and again and hopefully get the goal eventually.
“My family were at the game. As much as it's special for me, it's special for them as well. I've spoken about it before, how much it means to me playing for Scotland. But for my grandad and my dad it is really special.
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“The manager pulled me on Wednesday in training and said I was going to play. He told me to go out there and play my game. I think I did. I tried to be full of energy, get after their back four and force them into errors. We pressed high, so I think it suited me well.
“It was important that we did that. We were able to build into the second half and get our goal, thanks to Doakey. We haven't won in so long and it was important to get a win against Croatia.”
“It just backs up everything the manager said and the players have said and the build-up. We're improving all the time. I think you can see that in the performances that we're putting in, the togetherness we have, the way we're defending. Everyone is putting bodies on the line.
“We're heading in the right direction and we're only going to show that by playing more games and hopefully we do that on Monday. A win in Poland and a goal would seal it off perfectly. Hopefully we can do that.”
