Exciting Celtic youngster Ben Doak has sent a message to the supporters after making a promising debut against Dundee United yesterday.
At only 16 years of age, Doak incredibly managed to up the tempo after coming on for the final 20+ minutes with the contest tied at 0-0 against the Tannadice outfit.
The young Lennoxtown academy prospect darted past his man on several occasions and got into some threatening positions. Celtic fans were left wowed by his pace and positivity as he made a real impression in his cameo. And as he ooked back on the game, Doak was full of beans come full-time as he posted the following on Instagram:
Doak has been linked with Liverpool in recent weeks with the player yet to sign a professional contract at Parkhead [Glasgow Times]. Considering he’s just made his debut for the club, you would hope that’s about to change.
It remains to be seen if further opportunities are there for him in the coming weeks. Granted, given the importance of Wednesday night’s game against Rangers, Ange Postecoglou will likely look to shield him from that kind of environment at 16.
Celtic currently have Liel Abada and James Forrest available for the right-wing slot heading into a crucial week for the club.
Ben Doak making the right impression already in the Celtic first-team
There was something hugely exciting about the Doak cameo yesterday. Seeing how easily he breezed past his men and got into dangerous positions was an eye-opener. The kind of thing you just don’t expect from someone so young.
Sure, it’s important to keep a cool head. Doak has a long way to go before he’s competing regularly in the Celtic first-team squad. At only 16, the development potential in him looks to be frightning.
But you had to absolutely love the fearlessness in that performance yesterday. He didn’t want to just play the safe pass. He didn’t want to make sure he made no mistakes. That was what took you back with him. He wanted to go and commit and put himself out there. Happy to risk making individual mistakes if it meant we had a chance to create something.
That’s the kind of energy Celtic needed to inject into yesterday’s match. You could even go so far as to say that if he didn’t come on, we likely wouldn’t have scored a winner. No, Doak didn’t play a central role in the goal itself, but it was his forward runs that gave Celtic a bit of much-needed life.
When you’re a youngster making your Celtic debut, it’s important to make an impression. Doak succeeded and then some. The challenge now is to keep the head down and not get too overwhelmed in the moment. Ben clearly has wonderful ability, and it’s all about giving that ability time to develop.
But a massive congratulations to him for what he produced yesterday. He certainly got the supporters off their seats.
In other news, Carl Starfelt brilliantly kickstarts the pre-Celtic vs Rangers fighting talk; sends warning to Ibrox
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