Liverpool Under-19's European encounter with Sporting Lisbon was marred by a sickening clash of heads which left Ben Doak requiring urgent medical attention.
Doak, 17, lined up in attack for the young Reds and collapsed to the ground after leaping for a header and making contact with his Sporting opponent. The teenager initially clutched his head in pain before sinking to the turf, promptly receiving on-pitch treatment from two Liverpool medics.
Encouragingly, Doak was able to stand up after the harrowing incident, but he was withdrawn from the fray with just eight minutes played so he could be properly examined. It was the low point of a disappointing afternoon for Liverpool U19, who were eliminated from the UEFA Youth League after Rodrigo Ribeiro scored a second-half winner for Sporting.
Discussing Doak's condition after the match, Liverpool Under-21 head coach Barry Lewtas said: "Ben is okay. He obviously couldn't continue but our medical staff got to him quickly. He was on the pitch at the end with the lads and we will keep him closely monitored."
The young Reds were no doubt hampered by losing Doak to injury so early in the fixture as the youngster has been in sensational form this season. The Scotland Under-21 star moved to Anfield from Celtic last summer - with the Glasgow giants paid £600,000 in compensation - and he has scored 10 goals in various youth competitions this season.
He played the full match as Liverpool defeated Porto in the UEFA Youth League round of 16 via a penalty shootout, although he did miss from 12 yards. Doak's performances have caught the eye of first-team boss Jurgen Klopp, who has handed him five senior appearances.
The Ayrshire native made his Reds debut against Derby County in the Carabao Cup and featured in the Premier League for the first time in a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa on Boxing Day, becoming the youngest Scottish player to appear in the competition in the process.
How impressed have you been by Ben Doak's performances this season? Have your say in the comments!
Doak received lavish praise from Klopp after he was selected to join Liverpool's mid-season camp in Dubai, where they defeated AC Milan while the eyes of fans across the globe were fixed on the World Cup in Qatar. The German said: "Ben Doak comes on, 16 years old, and is this kind of natural force, it's really cool to see.
"In these 10, 11 days, the kids especially, everybody made a real step forward. That's why these things are so important, that we can involve them. And, in general, tonight was the result of the last 10 days what we saw in training and tonight we could bring it on the pitch, which is obviously nice."
