11 October 2023 , 06:10
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Sir Kenny Dalglish has talked up Liverpool prodigy Ben Doak's chances of turning out for Scotland at next summer's European Championships.
Doak, 17, is enjoying a breakout season at Anfield after joining from Celtic in 2022 for a compensation fee of around £600,000. The lightning-fast winger - who hails from Dalry, a small town in Ayrshire - is already being tipped to represent his country at Euro 2024, which Steve Clarke's Scotland are on the brink of qualifying for.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is a huge fan of Doak, too, describing him as "special" and urging his more experienced players to give him the ball more often following his first appearance this season. Reds legend Dalglish, a fellow Scot, has this week heaped praise on the teenage sensation, believing that he could well be on the plane to Germany next June..
"He's only a baby, isn't he?" the 72-year-old is quoted as saying by the Scotsman. "He's done really well in just a year-and-a-half. He'll not be far away from it [Scotland].
"He was on the bench at Brighton [last weekend] and he came on in the Europa League. If he just handles it properly, he’s got a lot of things going for him. He's got more going for him than going against him."
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Dalglish also explained that Doak will have to deal with heightened expectations after Klopp labelled him "super promising." The ex-Liverpool forward and manager added: "The expectation has to be controlled. You cannot maybe control the expectation of the media, but it certainly needs controlled by him.
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17-year-old Ben Doak already plays for Scotland's under-21 side (Mateo Villalba/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)"He's obviously impressed Jurgen and whoever else with the first-team and also at the training facilities. He's going well. [There are] two things [about going to Germany with Scotland]. Let's get there first. And then Steve can assess what players he's got. But if the wee man keeps continuing… he's going to go through a spell where it's not going as well for him as he'd want."
Dalglish continued: "It's happening all the time that there's someone coming through. That's a reflection on how improved the national team's results have been. We've got better players to choose from. If he [Doak] continues in the samec vein, keeps his feet on the ground, he won’t have a problem."
Doak was handed his second start of the campaign during the Reds' recent 3-1 Carabao Cup victory over Leicester. Klopp hailed the 17-year-old afterwards by saying: "Ben, so exciting, you cannot watch him without smiling, to be honest. It's really, really nice to see."