Ben Doak is focused on helping Middlesbrough rebuilding momentum in the play-off race after it was confirmed the Liverpool loanee will remain on Teesside for the rest of the season.

Amid interest from a few Premier League clubs, there was talk throughout the month that he may be recalled from his loan at Boro and sold by the Reds. But after scoring a stunning goal in Tuesday night's victory over West Brom to send Boro back into the top six, it was confirmed that the deadline allowing Liverpool to recall had passed, meaning Doak will stay at the Riverside until the end of the season.

And speaking to club media after the West Brom win to set out his aims now his immediate future is clear, Doak said: “I’ve been practicing that kind of finish in training and luckily it’s paid off. We’ve had a frustrating few weeks and we definitely wanted more from the past couple of games. It feels good to get that winning feeling back.

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"It’s good to be in a play-off spot at this stage, especially after the past few results where we’ve not won as many games as we’d like. But, to be honest, the lads aren’t too concerned about that. We’re just focusing on each game as they come rather than focusing on the bigger picture just yet. We need to get that momentum back. We had a spell a few weeks ago where we were scoring goals for fun and hopefully we can do that again.”

It was Michael Carrick himself who confirmed the news of Doak's Boro stay on Tuesday evening. He had insisted throughout the month that he was calm about the situation regarding Doak's future, even though it was completely out of Boro's hands what happened.

Explaining why and expanding on Doak staying, Carrick said: “It’s clear now. It was kind of clear in many ways anyway. It’s been a successful move for Ben so far in terms of the exposure to playing senior football week in, week out at a good level. It’s a big step for him after the season he had last season. From that side of it, it’s gone well for him.

"In terms of how he’s coped with everything - the move, the settling in, the little bit of uncertainty recently - he’s never showed any sign of an issue. He’s trained well and always felt he was going to be here until the end of the season. Of course, we’re delighted now that it’s clear. It works well for all us and hopefully it will continue to be that way."