The Ben Doak skill that leaves Liverpool's Mo Salah in the shade Dundee Utd loanee tips Scotland starlet for the top

Doak - who has made 10 first team appearances at Anfield - joined Middlesbrough on a season-long loan deal in August

Luca Stephenson rates Scotland new boy Ben Doak so highly that he has claimed he even outshines the likes of Mo Salah when it comes to one-on-ones at Liverpool.

The Dundee United loanee came through the Anfield ranks with the attacker, who is in Steve Clarke’s squad for the Croatia and Portugal games and believes he is a real talent. Stephenson knows there are a lot of aspects of his game he still has to work at but taking on a defender he is the best in the Reds squad, when it comes to eliminating defenders.

Stephenson predicted: “I think he can go very very very high. I think there are bits of his game like anybody who's a young player that will need to improve, but in terms of raw talent he's outstanding. I think personally just from playing with him, if he adds a little bit in the final third, that final product whether it's the final ball, the final shot then it would see him really kick on.

“But before that, in all honesty I've not seen anybody I've played against or played with have kind of that one-v-one talent that he's got. That's talking about first team players at Liverpool in terms of one-v-one taking players on. I genuinely don't think there's anybody as good as him in that kind of sense.”

Doak missed Euro 2024 because of injury but got his chance against Portugal and Poland off the bench last month. Stephenson added: “He's only probably played under ten games but for me - I’m probably a bit biased because I’m his mate - I don't think it matters.

“I think the quicker he gets thrown into something like that I think the better it’ll be for him. He came on in the two games in the Nations League last month and I thought he was very good. As long as he keeps on showing performances like that he'll have no problem.”

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has put Doak out on loan at Middlesbrough. Stephenson thinks that will be good for him and Scotland because when he is on his game he knows he is unstoppable. He claimed: “I just think if he can improve that final product - the final shot, the final pass - he'll go very very high in the game.

“His movement's very good but obviously he's rapid as well which always helps. If you're good at one or two tricks, which he is, sometimes people can't stop him.

“He's got a few tricks in his locker where you just think ‘I can't stop that’. The amount of times I've played against him in training and just thought ‘there's not much I can do here’.

“He beats you and you've just got to hope for a bad cross or a bad ball to pull you out of things. He's at Middlesbrough this year and I think that will do him the world of good. He's got a very good career in the game I'm sure.”

The Scottish influence at Liverpool is still big and he admitted national team skipper Andy Robertson has been a big influence on Stephenson. He urged him to make his current move to Tannadice. He said: "I only had my first real experience with the first team in pre-season.

"Unfortunately, he was injured throughout pre-season so I didn't see too much of him. But he was still around the group and I spoke to him a little bit when I knew I was coming up here. He told me how much I'd love it and looked to speak to some of the staff who were still here from when he was playing so that was good."

Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.