‘He’s going to be a big player’ – Liverpool gem tipped to get full international debut tonight | OneFootball

One talented youngster on Liverpool’s books has been backed to make his full international debut tonight after impressing off the bench in recent days.

Ben Doak, who’s on loan at Middlesbrough from Anfield for this season, received his first senior Scotland cap on Thursday after coming on as a substitute in their 2-3 defeat to Poland.

Steve Clarke’s side are in UEFA Nations League action again on Sunday when they face Portugal in Lisbon, and speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, former Tartan Army defender Willie Miller voiced his admiration for the 18-year-old’s talents.

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He proclaimed (via The Northern Echo): “Everybody got a lift, including the players. Doak’s impact was immediate. It’s great to see someone with that pace, directness and skill.

“The manager now has a responsibility to give him the opportunity when he’s that young. On the evidence of his cameo appearance as a substitute, he’s going to be big player in that position going forward and he might get a start against Portugal on Sunday.”

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Liverpool fans have seen some very impressive cameos from Doak at Anfield over the past year, and only for a knee injury he surely would’ve made more than five first-team appearances last season.

The teenager can feel happy with what he offered in his 20 minutes on the pitch against Poland, misplacing only one pass on the night (Sofascore), and for Miller to talk of putting him in for a first senior start against a team of Portugal’s quality speaks volumes for how highly he’s rated within his homeland.

The arrival of Federico Chiesa came as a further impediment to the likelihood of regular game-time for the Reds this term, so joining Middlesbrough on loan made plenty of sense for the young forward, who’ll hopefully be handed plenty of game-time by Michael Carrick at the Riverside Stadium.

It’d be a tremendous show of faith by Clark to start Doak against Diogo Jota, Cristiano Ronaldo et al tonight, but even if the Liverpool loanee has to be content with another outing off the bench, it looks increasingly as though he won’t have to wait much longer for his first senior Scotland start.

The 18-year-old appears to have an enormously high ceiling, and hopefully he’ll see some action on the pitch at the Estadio da Luz in a few hours’ time.

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