LIVERPOOL loanee Ben Doak is pushing for his first Middlesbrough start, with Michael Carrick saying the young winger is "ready and raring to go".

Carrick won't expect too much too soon from the 18-year-old but has been struck by the maturity of the young attacker, who is "chomping to get started".

Doak joined Boro on a season long loan on deadline day before linking up with the Scotland squad.

During the international break, Scotland boss Steve Clarke tried to ease the expectations surrounding the winger, who missed a large bulk of the early stages of this year with a knee injury.

Clarke said: “We have to protect Ben.

“He came off the bench and showed some good attributes, but I’m not sure the last time he played 90 minutes and he is not ready to play 90 minutes at this level.”

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Carrick, too, has called for patience - something he reiterated this week ahead of tomorrow's Wear-Tees derby at Sunderland but Doak has quickly made an impression on Boro's boss.

Carrick said: "Ben’s ready, definitely. He’s fit and raring to go. He’s young but he has an older head than his age suggests and he’s chomping to get started and be part of it.

"It’s fantastic for us. Patience again, I keep saying, in terms of him hitting his peak level with the stage that he’s at in terms of settling in and getting game time, there’s no issue or anything holding him back at this stage.

"You’ve got to believe and back yourself and there’s plenty ahead for Ben to settle in and hit the season.”