Middlesbrough will be doing everything in their power to reach the play-offs in the final eight games of the season. But it goes without saying that their chances would have been significantly better had Ben Doak not suffered an injury that threatens to end his season and Boro spell prematurely.
The Liverpool loan man was having a stellar campaign at the Riverside, scoring three goals and registering seven assists. Boro had only just felt boosted by the news that he would be spending the rest of the campaign with them rather than being recalled by his parent club, when he suffered a thigh injury which, in the end, required surgery.
While Michael Carrick retains hope that the 19-year-old could yet return and play some part in Boro’s run-in, the likelihood is that his time on Teesside is already over. Few Boro fans will need telling how big a blow that is to promotion hopes, Ryan Giles offered excellent insight into just how good he is.
Speaking from the point of view of an opposition defender who had played against Doak twice this season while still at Hull City. Having joined Boro on loan in January, the left-back had been looking forward to spending the rest of the season playing on the same team as the Scotland international - though things haven’t quite gone to plan for either player since. What he said at the time though, encapsulates just how big a loss Doak is for Boro.
Giles said: “I study players and, when you play, you get to know many players from different teams as you come up against them. I knew of him anyway beforehand. You know what someone like Ben is going to do, but it’s more of the fatigue that kicks in when he keeps coming at you with the ball and the mentally draining aspect of that.
“It’s hard to stop. He’s technically very good on the ball, can dribble with both feet, and he’s so hard to defend against. He’s a real asset to Boro this season. He’s a handful! The good thing about Ben is just his confidence and directness. Ask any defender, if someone is coming at you constantly like Ben does, whether it’s going well for him or not, it’s sort of mentally draining.
“I think that’s what he does to players because he just doesn’t stop. Whether that’s about self-belief from him, from the manager, whatever, he’s got to keep doing that because he’s reaping the rewards and getting people looking at him and thinking, ‘there’s a hell of a player here’. From an age perspective as well, it’s kind of frightening how young he still is really and the potential he’s got.”
While Doak appears unlikely right now to be able to have any kind of impact in the rest of Boro’s season, Giles will certainly hope he can. The attacking full-back’s second Boro spell hasn’t gone as hoped so far, but he still has eight games in which he can potentially play a big part in Boro reaching the play-offs yet.