New Liverpool star unearthed as 16-year-old scores on debut against players 5 years his senior

Liverpool youngster Ben Doak has scored on his Scotland Under-21 debut against Northern Ireland.

The 16-year-old made his first appearance for the young Scots today despite being five years younger than some of his teammates.

He doubled his side’s lead with a sumptuous finish at the near post after Kieran Bowie gave the visitors the lead.

Doak arrived at Anfield from Celtic in the summer window, having made his senior debut for the Bhoys in January in a 1-0 win over Aberdeen.

He was the Scottish side's second youngest ever debutant, after Jack Aitchison, who played for the Glaswegian club aged 16 years and 71 days in 2016.

⚽️ It's now 2-0 Scotland. @LFC's Ben Doak nets after coming off the bench. NI 0-2 SCO #GAWA #U21s 📺 Watch live: ➡️ https://t.co/fQ9aCPsTwM ⬅️ pic.twitter.com/ztInDRS4Yn

— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) September 22, 2022

Doak is a competent winger, but can also feature in the centre of midfield and at full-back, which will please manager Jurgen Klopp immensely.

He was named in Scott Gemmill’s squad earlier this month, with plentiful changes as his side aim in a new, younger and more vibrant direction.

Notable names include Josh Doig, who has recently joined Hellas Verona, Elliott Anderson of Newcastle, and Ross Wilson - who swapped Rangers for Aston Villa in the summer.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo after Doak’s move to Anfield, Scotland Under-17 coach Brian McLaughlin lauded the potential of the Reds’ new boy, who has played in the Under-23 side with the Reds already.

"He wants to take players on, he wants to be really, really positive and as long as he keeps that character and reminds himself of what his major strengths are, we’ll try to encourage him."

"He’s a different type of player to anybody who has come through recently, his athleticism alone is different."

"The thing that struck me about Ben when he joined the programme is how he came with an ambition that he wanted to achieve something big."

"He then went into our youth squads and went through the same process that Billy Gilmour’s gone through. Ben looked at what we were doing, what we were trying to do and how we wanted to play and he just loved it.”

Doak will hope that he can impress his academy bosses enough to give Klopp a nudge, as the German has always provided opportunities for young players in the cup competitions.

17-year-old Kaide Gordon started in the Carabao Cup Semi-Final at Arsenal last season, whilst Coaimhin Kelleher started the final of the competition.