Kenny Dalglish delivers glowing Ben Doak report as Liverpool and Celtic icon casts Scotland call-up verdict

Kenny Dalglish hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Liverpool rising star Ben Doak breaking into the senior Scotland national team set-up ahead of the Euro 2024 finals next summer.

The former Hoops and Anfield icon suggested that the the country’s next big generational prospect is capable of delivering on his burgeoning reputation as part of Steve Clarke’s squad in the not too distant future.

But the Scottish football legend remained cautious that the conversation should be restrained until the Scots rubber-stamp their spot at next summer’s major finals in Germany ahead of their latest qualifying fixture against Spain in Seville on Thursday.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has high hopes for 17-year-old Doak after integrating him into the first-team pool and handing him three appearances so far this season. The electric winger continues to go from strength-to-strength after agreeing a new long-term deal with the Reds last month.

That has led to heightened speculation the former Celtic academy product could be in line to receive his first senior call-up after just a handful of appearances for the Under-21s.

Speaking to GlasgowWorld, Dalglish said: “It was a big thing for him at his age to move to Liverpool. He came in, settled in quickly and obviously impressed Jurgen enough at the training facilities to have him in and around the (first-team) squad.

“He’s done really well in just a year-and-a-half. He was on the bench against Brighton last Sunday and came on in the Europa League, so his career will develop if he goes about it the right way. He’s showing enough promise at the moment to think that he is going about it properly. He just needs to take his time and continue his development.

“There will be hiccups along the way, so it’s about how you react to that as well and also the success you have. He’s in the right place to be drawn down into line if he’s getting carried away with himself at Anfield.”

Asked if he could envisage Doak making an impact for the National Team in the coming years, Dalglish responded: “You’ve obviously got to perform well at club level first before you earn international recognition, so he needs to just concentrate on that. I’m sure the wee man would love to play for Scotland.

“When he does get the opportunity to be called up for international games, he should continue to do what he does best. You don’t need to be any different. You’re in the squad because of what you’ve done and how you’ve gone about it at club level. If you continue to just be yourself then you’ve got a better chance of succeeding.

“He’s certainly very impressive. If he Doak continues in the same vein, keeps his feet on the ground, he won’t have a problem.”

*Kenny Dalglish was promoting Viaplay’s live and exclusive coverage of Spain v Scotland. Viaplay is available to stream from viaplay.com or via your TV provider on Sky, Virgin TV and Amazon Prime as an add-on subscription.