MICHAEL CARRICK is delighted with Ben Doak’s progress during his three months as a Middlesbrough player, but will be doing all he can to ensure the teenager keeps his feet on the ground after a whirlwind fortnight with Scotland.
Doak has pretty much been hailed as the saviour of Scottish football after producing Man of the Match displays in his national side’s back-to-back victories over Croatia and Poland.
The Liverpool loanee excelled for Steve Clarke’s side, maintaining the fine form he was displaying for Boro prior to the start of the international break.
Carrick has been delighted with Doak’s impact, having played a pivotal role in helping persuade the 19-year-old to choose Boro over a host of alternative suitors in August.
However, having worked under Sir Alex Ferguson, a manager who was adept at keeping talented youngsters out of the limelight, the Boro boss is determined to make sure Doak does not get too carried away by the praise that has been lavished on him in the last couple of weeks.
“We are really happy with how Ben has settled in, and how he approached life at Middlesbrough and fitting into the group and buying into what we do,” said Carrick, whose side head to the Kassam Stadium to face Oxford United tomorrow afternoon.
“That’s kind of been proven over the time that he’s been here with the improvement in performances the more that he’s settled and the boys playing to his strengths and looking after him.
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“He’s still young and largely inexperienced in terms of senior football, so we have to keep that in mind and be sensible with it.
“At the moment, he’s certainly thriving, which is great to see, but I’m not getting too carried away. He’s young, so we just take it a step at a time, and we’ve still got to take care of him.”
Doak’s arrival was one of the big successes of the summer transfer window, which also saw Boro recruit Aidan Morris, who has made an instant impact since joining from the MLS, and Tommy Conway, who has settled nicely following a switch from Bristol City.
The window will reopen in just over a month’s time, but while there is a decent chance Boro will look to tweak their squad, Carrick is not anticipating any major transfer activity.
“We’re not in a bad place, so we head to January not desperate or chasing anything, that’s for sure,” he said. “There is always striving to get better and assessing what we can maybe do to improve, but January is January. Sometimes, things happen by our choice, and sometimes it’s out of our control.
“We’ve got to be ready, like any window, to come out of January better than we go into it. But certainly, as we stand right now, we’ve got a really good squad with good balance and really good options, so we’re really happy. We just have to be ready for whatever January brings.”
There is a chance a couple of fringe players could head out on loan at the turn of the year, with the imminent return to fitness of Rav van den Berg and Lukas Engel set to further increase the depth of the squad.
“It all comes together in different ways,” said Carrick. “We’ve got a full squad right now, which is a factor, and there are considerations for who’s played what football.
“Maybe some of the younger players will be considered for loans. There are constant decisions like that to be had. But certainly, at the moment, we’re happy and comfortable with what we’ve got.”
Carrick’s more immediate priority is tomorrow’s trip to the Kassam, with the Boro boss having been impressed by the way in which Oxford have adapted to life in the Championship, particularly in their home games. While Oxford currently sit 16th, they have only lost one of their eight home matches this term.
“They’ve adapted and attacked the league very well,” he said. “I think that pretty much every game they’ve been involved in has been really, really tight, so it’s a tough game going down there.
“They are really well-organised, they don’t give much away. But we’ll definitely be prepared for it and know what we are facing.”
