Arne Slot nervously joked he may have to bring Ben Doak back to Liverpool due to the injury state of play as the Scotland winger continues to prove his worth from afar.
The 18-year-old joined Middlesbrough on loan late in the transfer window in search of regular football and after two games to settle in, he’s started their last six on the spin. He got off the mark in his very first start against Stoke and is adapting well to life in the Championship and his first run as a senior first-team regular.
His loan move came about after Federico Chiesa’s arrival at Liverpool pushed him further down the pecking order. But with Chiesa, Diogo Jota and Harvey Elliott all injured, Slot finds himself light on forward options. And that led him to declare ‘maybe we should bring Ben Doak back!’
Speaking at his press conference ahead of their Carabao Cup clash with Brighton, he said: “In certain situations you’d prefer to keep (the young players) here because then they can training with you and you can implement in the best possible way your playing style, but if that means they hardly play then it doesn’t lead to the progression you are hoping for. That is the balance we always try to find.
“Some players we let on loan, Stefan Bajcetic is a good example of that, then you hope to see he plays a lot and has already played a few games. It’s pleasing that he went to a very good manager in Pep Lijnders that knows this club also.
“For Ben Doak it is similar (at Middlesbrough), he also went to a very good manager and a very good playing style. Do we want to play them on a regular basis, or once in a while keeping them with us? We have to be aware of our own interests, we can’t let everyone go who doesn’t play all the time.
“Tyler Morton is a good example of that. He is a quality, quality player, good enough to play everywhere around the league, but is in competition with so many good midfielders here.
“We have six forwards, two of them are injured and only have four left, with the schedule we have, that’s sometimes a worry for me. Maybe we should bring Ben Doak back!”