“It's great to see him back in,” Lee Miller said of Lennon Miller, speaking to BBC Sport about a call that came after a difficult summer for the midfielder. He had been left out of Scotland's World Cup squad after Steve Clarke's farewell against Curacao, with Tyler Fletcher, an uncapped Manchester United 19-year-old, called up instead. A Facetime call from Sebastien Pocognoli the day before the squad was announced helped set the tone for what followed.

Pocognoli's call and the summer after omission

Lee Miller said, “It was really difficult. It was a difficult summer,” and added that Lennon Miller just needed to “get on with things and knuckle down and work hard.” That was the mood around a player who had to absorb a big disappointment before getting another chance with Scotland.

The reminder from Pocognoli mattered because it came right before the squad announcement, and it kept Miller in touch with the new set-up while he was working through that setback. Lee Miller's read was simple enough: the response had to come on the pitch, and the minutes at Udinese have done that.

Minutes at Udinese

He has featured in all five of Udinese's Serie A games, started his last two league matches and played a full 90 minutes against Venezia earlier this month in the Italy Cup. Lee Miller said, “This season, he's had more minutes already. So it's been really good.”

That run is a change from a first season in Italy spent finding his feet. Miller was first thrust into the Motherwell first team just six days after turning 16, so there has never been any doubt about the early edge in his career. What has changed is the trust he is getting now, and Udinese are using him more often in league and cup.

The Scotland recall feels like a response to both things at once, the disappointment of the summer and the minutes in Italy. Miller is back in the international picture, and he goes into the next block of games with five Serie A appearances, two recent starts and another 90 minutes behind him.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →