Nations League: Croatia v Scotland
Venue: Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb Date: Saturday 12 October Time: 17:00 BST
Coverage: Listen live on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Scotland and follow live updates on the BBC Sport website & app
Ben Doak has been tipped for great things for so long it is easy to forget he is still only 18 years old.
He was Celtic’s second-youngest first team player ever when he made his debut at 16, but the Parkhead faithful barely had time to get excited about the youngster before he was off to Liverpool.
Breaking through at Anfield was always going to be a huge challenge, and injuries hampered his chances despite a few impressive cameos.
However, a loan spell with Middlesbrough has now given Doak the platform to showcase his undoubted abilities, and put him in Steve Clarke’s thoughts as he evolves the make up of his Scotland squad.
“I’m loving it,” Doak said of life in the English Championship, where he’s started five games in less than a month. “I’ve played more football in the last week than I did in seven months.
“It’s good to get out there and start enjoying myself again. Starting games week in, week out helps you improve so much.
“Playing games here and there, you’re never going to see the best of any player.”
Doak was selected for the initial Euro 2024 squad and many felt his pace and creativity offered a point of difference in a group that ultimately proved to have a dearth of both at the finals in Germany.
Injury struck again at the worst possible moment and Doak was left to watch the action unfold back home.
“It was gutting, of course,” he said. “The injury wasn’t too serious, but I just came back a little bit too early.
“Watching the games just kind of drove me on more to try and get in the squad. I’d like to think I would have made a bit of a difference.”
Scotland captain Andy Robertson – a club-mate at Liverpool – warned before of the Euros of heaping too much pressure on Doak’s shoulders at such a young age.
The player himself says he tries to block out any hype that exists around him.
“It’s all well and good when everyone’s bigging you up, but it can be the same people smacking you down when you don’t play well,” said Doak, who could make his first start against Croatia on Saturday.
“I don’t take notice of the negatives or the positives. Early on, I fell into that and started putting pressure on myself because of what other people were saying.
“But that doesn’t help you, or your team. So it’s easier to just close your mind off to it and not look. Just relax, take it easy, and go and enjoy your football.”
Scotland’s long-standing problems in attack were laid bare in the Euros, with just one goal in three group matches.
Injuries to Tommy Conway and Lawrence Shankland have further dented Clarke’s attacking options for the games with Croatia in Zagreb and Portugal at Hampden.
And while Doak has been deployed mostly wide in recent times, he believes he provides a different option through the middle.
“I’d be comfortable doing it,” he said. “I played number nine in the youth teams so I think I’d be able to do a job that gives us something different to what we’ve got.”