Ben Doak urged to forget Scotland hiccup as Liverpool star and U21 mates sent rallying cry

Scot Gemmill backed Ben Doak to bounce back after his late penalty miss cost Scotland another precious away Euro 2025 win in Budapest.

The young Scots had stunned Belgium 2-0 last Friday with a 2-0 victory, but found their difficult task against the Hungarians made better by a brilliant performance from Ipswich keeper Cieran Slicker who pulled off a string of first half saves to keep the game level. Scotland improved in the second half and were handed a late chance to win it when sub Dire Mebude was brought down in the box with two minutes left.

But Liverpool starlet Doak saw his penalty saved with the spoils shared at the Hidegkuti Nandor Stadium. Gemmill's men remain in second place in the group though at the halfway stage in the battle to reach the Finals in Slovakia. And the boss has tipped Doak to quickly recover.

He said: "Ben will be fine. He's young and he will bounce back fast. It's a good learning experience for all of them and they are all disappointed because we came so close to getting another victory and I have just reminded them of that.

"We have to think of the campaign from the Spain game to this game and the fact we have gone away to Belgium and Hungary and not conceded a goal. There were a lot of really good things and they have shown a lot of character and we are sitting with ten points.

"We can be really optimistic at the next set of games. I know it's tight in the group. It's exciting and great for the players and I am really proud of the performances from them so far.

"Right now it's easy to under-appreciate how good the two games have been because both Belgium and Hungary are really good teams as you could see in the first half. So it was really good to see the character and attitude in the team