Liverpool youngster Ben Doak has been forced to withdraw from the Scotland squad for Euro 2024 due to injury having been ruled out since suffering a knee injury in December.
Liverpool youngster Ben Doak has suffered Euro 2024 heartache after he was forced to withdraw from the Scotland squad. The uncapped teenager, 18, was handed a call-up for his first major tournament despite being on the sidelines since December.
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And Scotland has now confirmed that Doak has withdrawn from Steve Clarke’s squad due to injury. He did not feature in Monday’s friendly against Gibraltar and has been forced to concede he will not take part in the tournament.
A statement published on social media read: “Sadly, Ben Doak has been withdrawn from the #EURO2024 squad through injury. Ben – we know we’ll see you entertaining crowds at Hampden in a Scotland shirt soon.”
Many were expecting a breakthrough summer for Doak, who has been labelled as ‘Scottish Wayne Rooney’ and been tipped for big things since leaving Celtic for Liverpool in 2022. Speaking earlier this week, manager Steve Clarke urged caution and suggested he had been picked for experience, but did not suggest he was likely to miss out with injury.
Clarke said last week stated he would be ready to feature against Gibraltar off the bench and added: “Listen, Ben is in the squad to gain experience, to work with us. He has been out [injured] for four-and-a-half months so let’s not put too much on Ben.
“Let’s keep Ben in the right place. Let’s not overhype or overpush him. Let’s do it properly.”
Liverpool’s other Scotland international, Andy Robertson, also urged caution around Doak. In an interview with the BBC, Robertson said: “He’s got a bright future ahead of him.
“But it’s also important that we protect him and we put our arm around him and help him along the way, because he’s just starting his journey and we know what that’s like. It’s important people don’t get overhyped by him and let him grow and let him improve.
“If we do that then I believe that he can be a big player for us in this tournament. But he’ll be a big player for us for 10, 15 years to come as well.”
Doak is now set to continue his recovery at Liverpool. He suffered a serious knee injury in December which cut short his season just as he had started to break into Jurgen Klopp’s first-team plans. A summer preseason under new manager Arne Slot now awaits as he looks to impress.
