Eagle-eyed Scotland fans spot cheeky 'Scottish maestro' quip to team-mate

After being named in the Scotland squad by Steve Clarke last week, teenage starlet Ben Doak dropped a cheeky hint that he is hoping one of his Middlesbrough team-mates will join him representing the Tartan Army in the future.

The Liverpool winger moved on loan to the EFL Championship promotion hopefuls on transfer deadline day, and has made a good first impression on Middlesbrough fans after scoring on first league start against Stoke City in a 2-0 win at the Riverside Stadium 10 days ago.

"He looked dangerous and might have got another goal or even two,” raved Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick after his first start, adding: “He showed what he is about and is a real threat. He had an impact. He is young, but he has the character and personality, and he has come here keen to develop. I wasn't surprised. I was pleased to see what he could do."

Doak helped the Teessiders defeat West Bromwich Albion a few days later, playing a key role in Hayden Hackney’s late winning goal in midweek, which prompted the ex-Celtic youngster to leave a tongue-in-cheek comment on the midfielder’s official Instagram page that indicates he wants to see him in a navy jersey soon.

Hayden Hackney during an International Friendly match between Scotland Under-21's and Iceland Under-21's. Cr: SNS Group. | SNS Group

Hackey, 22, has played for England at various youth levels and was named in England’s under-21 squad for the qualification games against Ukraine and Azerbaijan just last week. That said, Middlesbrough midfielder is still eligible to represent Scotland due to his Edinburgh born mother and actually switched his allegiance to the Tartan Army temporarily in November 2022, when he appeared for Scotland under-21s in a 2-1 defeat to Iceland. Sadly for Scotland, Hackney would follow a similar path to that of Elliot Anderson when he switched his allegiance back to England shortly afterwards, debuting for Lee Carsley’s Young Lions in a Euro’s qualifier against Luxembourg in September 2023.

Like Doak, the midfielder has enjoyed his own strong start to his campaign, lining up in a deep holding midfielder role in each of Middlesbrough’s opening nine games and scoring twice, leading Teesside team-mate Doak to cheekily refer to him as the ‘Scottish maestro’ on social media in the aftermath of the victory against West Brom.