BEN DOAK is hoping to get his club career “up and running” with Middlesbrough following his deadline-day loan deal from Liverpool.

Doak has spent the last week on international duty with Scotland, appearing as a substitute in Nations League defeats to both Poland and Portugal.

However, while the 18-year-old is beginning to make a name for himself on the international stage, he is yet to achieve a proper breakthrough at domestic level.

Having joined Liverpool from Celtic in the spring of 2022, the teenager has been restricted to just four starts and six substitute appearances on the senior stage, with the majority of his starting outings having come in the group stage of last season’s Europa League.

A loan move to Middlesbrough offers an opportunity to gain much-needed experience at first-team level, and while Doak faces a battle to claim a starting spot on Teesside, the Scot is determined to make the most of the next few months.

“It feels great to be here, and I cannot wait to get out there in front of the fans and get my career up and running,” said Doak, who might well have featured in Scotland’s squad for Euro 2024 earlier this summer had he not been forced to undergo knee surgery last December. “Hopefully, I can do well.

“This is a Premier League club, really, and I can imagine the fans are desperate to get back up there. I knew a few of the lads here and I spoke to the gaffer as well, and that’s really what convinced me. I know how big the club is and how big the fanbase is.

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“There were no bad elements to coming here. Time will tell. Hopefully, I can just go out there and do what I do, please the fans with my performances and please myself.”

Doak joined Liverpool for a compensatory fee of around £600,000 in 2022 and has always been rated extremely highly within the Anfield club’s youth ranks.

Jurgen Klopp handed him his senior debut before his 17th birthday and described him as a “special boy”, but Doak accepts there is a world of difference between starring in Liverpool’s youth ranks and proving anywhere near as effective amid the cut and thrust of life in the Championship. Clearly, though, Michael Carrick thinks he is capable of handling the switch.

“My aim this season is to just improve as a player, and you can only really do that by playing games regularly,” said Doak. “So, hopefully I can give good performances that ultimately warrant my place in the team.

“The gaffer told me what to expect from him and from the team, and for me as well. He’s a really good guy, really calm, and he convinced me to come here, basically. I’ll be just happy to be playing. Obviously, coming from such a big club, it can be difficult to get games. So, I’m grateful to be here and can’t wait to get out there.”

Doak’s playing style is something of a throwback, with the youngster having rapidly established a reputation as a direct dribbler who likes to isolate an opponent one-on-one.

He can play on either flank – most of his time with Liverpool, so far, has seen him stationed on the right – meaning he will find himself competing with the likes of Isaiah Jones, Riley McGree, Micah Hamilton, Delano Burgzorg and Marcus Forss for a place in Boro’s starting side.

“I’m very direct,” said Doak. “I like to get at people and look to create chances. I’ll always work hard too. I just get on the pitch and run.

“Hopefully, being away on international duty should give me that bit of extra time to get a little bit of extra match sharpness and focus before I properly come in and get started.”