Former Celtic academy star Ben Doak has attributed his experiences at Celtic for helping him handle his rise at Liverpool.

The youngster went from Celtic academy prospect to potentially the next big thing at Anfield.

It was a massive blow for Celtic when Ben decided he would not be staying at Celtic and instead chose to make the move to Liverpool. There is an argument that he could have been a first team starter at Celtic by now; however, his trajectory at Anfield appears to be infinite.

Speaking about his cameo in the Chelsea vs Liverpool game and the pressure of playing in front of a large crowd, Doak cited his short sting in the Celtic first team squad as getting him accustomed to a large audience.

Doak told the Liverpool Website: “Obviously I made a few appearances for Celtic before I came here as well so, I’m not used to it, I’ll never be used to it, but I am more used to the big crowds than most lads my age would be and also I’m going out to do what I’ve been doing my full life, so there’s not really any reason to be scared.”

Ben Doak only made two first team appearances from the bench at Celtuc under Ange Postecoglou. He got a cameo at the end of the pulsating 3-0 Glasgow Derby, where Celtic took control of the title race. Doak also played the final 22 minutes against Dundee Utd, where the bhoys won 1-0.

Doak is the antithesis of the issue Celtic have when bringing talented players through the ranks. It’s not just good enough to get these lads in the door early, but we now have major clubs with financial clout circling our academy and picking up this talent before they need to pay a premium price. While it’s difficult to compete with these teams when they come calling, Celtic hardly make the issue difficult with the path to the first team not planned out well, and the opportunities young players get are Lowland league games.