Three ways Scotland can unleash Liverpool prodigy Doak to ignite Euro 2024 hopes

SCOTLAND boss Steve Clarke thew in a calculated Euro 2024 curveball when he named Ben Doak in his 28-man preliminary squad for the finals in Germany this summer.

This is a man, after all, with a grand total of 13 minutes of Premier League action under his belt.

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His last competitive action came in a 2-1 Europa League defeat to Union St Gilloise in December.

If he makes any appearance at the Euros, he will be Scotland‘s youngest EVER player to grace a major tournament.

But quite simply, he wouldn’t be in the 28 right now if Clarke didn’t think he justified his position.

So he has every chance of making it into the final 26 – and making it onto the field.

The national team boss has clearly been searching for other answers up front, where he has five players named with vastly different skill sets.

Che Adams‘ late burst of form might just have moved him ahead of Lawrence Shankland in the pecking order for a lone striker‘s spot if that is what Clarke is looking for.

But there’s various alternative scenarios where Doak could prove useful whether it is off the bench – and here’s SunSport’s at-a-glance guide.

Big man/little man

Steve Clarke has an old school quality to him, even if he’s also cute enough to be on top of all the latest tactical trends going.

But he got great success earlier in his reign by using the time-honoured big man/little man strike pairing by getting a sharp runner near to Lyndon Dykes for flick-ons.

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That man was Ryan Fraser rather than Ben Doak but Doak’s flaring acceleration and low centre of gravity could work nicely with Dykes winning the flick-ons.

John McGinn seems perfect to provide the support running, while Andy Robertson on one flank and Tony Ralston could provide the ammunition from the other.

While Ralston is the favourite for this right wing back role, Stuart Armstrong could be a wildcard to play there, fitness permitting.

False 9/Lone frontman

Strikers come in all shapes and sizes.

And just because you aren’t 6ft 6in, it doesn’t mean you aren’t capable of leading the line.

Ben Doak was used by the Scotland Under-21s as a lone striker/false 9 in a match away to their Spanish counterparts last September.

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He went off after 77 minutes putting the fear of God into the Spanish rearguard, and while the Spanish went on to grab a late winner, it was an eye catching performance.

Playing a striker of his size would place a real premium on the right kind of service but he’s capable of dropping off the front to find space but also stretching the game.

Could be a decent foil against a more-vaunted side with big centre halves who wouldn’t be keen to see pace and lively movement.

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Pacy right winger

Conventionally used as a right winger or inside forward at Liverpool, Clarke will want to put Doak at ease.

So it still seems most likely that he could be accommodated in this shape, perhaps as one half of a double act tasked with providing ammunition to a penalty box player like Shankland or Dykes if we are chasing a goal.

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In this instance he’ll stay up the park and be asked to use his pace to hit the bye-line and deliver cross balls for his team-mates.

James Forrest, is another man more typically used in this formation but either he or Ryan Christie could be used on the left.

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