Watch Burnley vs Middlesbrough live on Sky Sports this Friday from 7pm, kick-off 8pm

Ten years ago, a nine-year-old Ben Doak was playing for Ayr United’s U11s against Hamilton Academicals.

That day, he played in two seven-a-side matches against two different Accies sides and scored nine goals. It would end up taking him to better things.

Watching on was Jim Began, Celtic’s chief talent spotter. At that point, there was little to no doubt where Doak was going next.

“I remember seeing Jim at the side of the pitch and I had the feeling he was there to see Ben, because he was doing so well and there was so much hype around him,” says Liam Anderson, one of Doak’s coaches at Ayr Utd at the time.

“That day, you’re thinking: let’s hope he does well, but not too well. But that day, he was incredible.”

A decade after that display on the seven-a-side pitch, he was tearing past Croatia and Man City full-back Josko Gvardiol at Hampden Park in Scotland colours.

A sensational international break last month saw him assist the opening goals for John McGinn in wins over Croatia and Poland. He’s now one of the first names on Steve Clarke’s team sheet.

And that’s not all. Doak has established himself as one of the most exciting players in the Championship on loan at Middlesbrough – his tantalising pace causing havoc to second-tier defences. The goals and assists are flying.

Parent club Liverpool are watching and with doubts over Mohamed Salah’s long-term future at Anfield, Arne Slot may not have to look far for a potential replacement.

Ben Doak is Next Up.

A key part in Doak’s development was his days in Ayr Utd, particularly when playing against bigger age groups. The winger is now a Championship regular but still faces the height challenge of being 5ft 9in against much larger defenders – learning the power to beat bigger and stronger players began at a young age.

“He had so many raw qualities – he was aggressive, fast, powerful but also a good finisher and quality on the ball, all the same attributes you see now,” says Anderson about the young kid he coached at Ayr.

“At the age of nine, he was the best player in the Ayr Utd academy despite being a year younger than everybody else. He was a nice, good young kid and while it’s so early in his career, I don’t think it’s any shock to see him doing so well.”

On matchdays, Ayr often took two seven-a-side youth teams to games to face two opposition academy sides – and the coach who ended up with a young Doak on their team would end up the happier.

“Myself and the other two or three coaches would decide the teams, and were pretty much fighting over who would have Ben!” recalls Anderson.

“You’d definitely be happy if you had Ben in your team because you’d be getting the best player and – not guaranteed goals, but a player of quality who would be the best player on the pitch - even against Rangers and Celtic.

“Even though he was the youngest on the pitch, you’d knew he’d be the best player. He would play as a striker, now he’s a winger these days, you knew if you created chances you would put the ball in the back of the net.”

Being chased in the Championship

Doak travels to Burnley on Friday night, live on Sky Sports, as a key Middlesbrough player the Clarets need to watch.

The Boro winger now dominates the one-on-one category in the Championship, taking players on at will and, quite often, coming out on top.

As well as causing damage to defences individually, Doak brings others into the game. “I really enjoy playing with him,” said Tommy Conway this week, who plays with him at club and international level this season.

“You always know he’ll create something which, for me as a striker, is a dream. It gives me confidence and makes me always be on my toes, thinking about my next movement.

“Rather than wondering: ‘is he going to go back?’ you know his strengths and what he’s going to be doing. The key is making sure I’m in the box and timing my runs correctly so that I’m on the end of them.”

It is a skill he’s always had, says Anderson. “It's his natural pace, we can see now he does have a lot of natural pace. It’s a throwback to an old-school winger. His acceleration and his quickness is very good.

“When he was at Ayr Utd, he was actually a year younger than everyone else. So at U11s, everyone else was ten and he was nine. And he was still one of the best players.

“At that age, he had that as well. It was quite rare to see someone at that age going past people with such ease.”

“He's a different threat to most,” said Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick. “He's quite direct, not so much loads of tricks and skills, but he's got that attribute to be low with his centre of gravity, he's direct and gets in that [dangerous] position an awful lot.

“Credit to the boys for supplying him and using him and trying to bring out the best of him. He certainly fits the system really well and it's up to us to keep pushing him and developing him and trying to make him better.”

A future at Liverpool? The next Salah?

Doak may be 19 but he already has a huge CV of coaches he has worked under in a short space of time.

He has a former Premier League winner in Carrick as his current mentor, Ange Postecoglou gave the forward his Celtic first-team debut, while Jurgen Klopp did the same at Liverpool in November 2022.

Klopp’s Liverpool were occasionally known as “mentality monsters” and it is no surprise that Doak fit into the first-team environment.

The German was overheard describing the winger as “the present and future of Scotland” during a training session last year – and Doak’s mentality has been noticed for a while.

“He was never a player who was messing around and carrying on,” says Anderson. “He was very grounded, always wanted to learn and always listening.”

That mentality is needed in the Championship. As defenders notice his pace, the Scot has learned to meet aggression head strong.

After Doak was on the receiving end of a nasty challenge by Oxford Utd's Elliott Moore last month, Carrick said the forward "has to learn to deal with it".

“Even at that level it could be aggressive were high tackles and knocks and because he was such a fast player he would obviously get fouled – no matter how hard the tackle, he would just get straight back up and roll his socks up.

“He had that aggressive side to him in the right way, mentality-wise he was very strong at such a young age. So it’s no surprise he’s doing so well, he’s got that mentality.”

It is that mentality that could stand Doak in good stead, particularly at Liverpool. The Scottish international is likely to get a go at staking a place in Slot’s first-team next summer – with the position of right winger under pressure by Mohamed Salah’s contract situation.

“There’s that talk of him doing so well at Middlesbrough that he could be the replacement for Salah – these are huge boots to fill,” says Anderson.

“But with his mentality and his trajectory and where he’s going right now, the sky is the limit for him. He has the potential to go on and be a world-class player – you’re hearing ex-players and pundits saying the same thing. If they’re seeing it…

With Middlesbrough and Scotland, it is clear Doak is not too dissimilar from Salah in terms of style: a winger who enjoys setting up team-mates just as much as scoring.

But heed the reminder that Doak still has a long way to go – and that he is still a little boy compared to the potential he possesses.

“With the Scotland team, I can see he’s very passionate as well – his celebrations when scoring, or he’s assisting, he still celebrates like he scores a goal,” says Anderson.

“There are definitely qualities from a nine-year-old that he still has now.”

Watch Burnley vs Middlesbrough live on Sky Sports this Friday from 7pm, kick-off 8pm