Doak may only be 18 but he is certainly not lacking in confidence. Scotland star John McGinn highlighted that during the international break when he revealed, ahead of his debut, Doak had joked the country's performance at the European Championships this summer would have been better had he been fit.
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Making a big impression when he did finally make his Scotland bow last week, there is now much excitement to see Doak in a Boro shirt. However, he is just returning from a long-term injury from last season, while international duty meant he only linked up with his new team-mates for the first time on Tuesday.
"When it’s new - it’s a new environment - it’s a case of helping him settle and getting him used to how we play and do things. That’s what we expect and we hope that he can be the player we know he can be but we have to be a little patient with him and bed him in at the right time."
Doak is unlikely to start against Preston North End on Saturday. Only just returning from the serious knee injury that kept him out for the entire second half of last season, Scotland boss Steve Clarke admitted earlier in the week that he was not quite ready to play a full 90 minutes yet.
Despite that, Boro moved fast to land Doak when he became available late in the window. There's a real buzz at Boro about beating seven other clubs to his signature, and a real belief that, once up to speed, he can prove a special player to raise Boro's standards as they push for promotion.
His arrival further increases options at the top of the pitch too, with Carrick saying he sees the right wing as Doak's best position. Boro already have Isaiah Jones and Marcus Forss for that right-wing role, while Micah Hamilton and Tommy Conway can operate there too.
But explaining why Boro felt he would be a useful acquisition beyond just the obvious quality he adds, Carrick explained: "I just think that to get through a season you need strength in depth from game-to-game and in-matches to freshen things up when you get injuries.
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"There has been a period of time where it has been pretty much Izzy on the right hand side, due to injuries etc, so I think that we need to balance that off. It’s the perfect kind of complement to each other and there is Marcuss to get back in the group.
"If you want to be competitive over a long period of time then you can’t rely on one person per position, that’s why we’ve built the squad as we’ve tried to do it. We were keen to get him on board, we know what type of player and the potential and strengths that he’s got. We feel that he’ll fit us really well.
"So we just put our case across really and he was terrific to speak to and he’s delighted to be here. As for his reasons, you’ll have to ask him. But he’s delighted to be here and he's trained really well in the days that he’s been here. He’s chomping at the bit to get going."
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