Lennon Miller lands ringing Scotland national team endorsement as Motherwell boss delivers three injury boosts
The midfielder has been called up to Steve Clarke’s side for Nations League games as Motherwell prepare for Premiership battle.
Motherwell boss Michael Wimmer has labelled Lennon Miller as Scotland starting XI ready - as he provides key injury updates.
The Steelmen head into Saturday’s Premiership game with St Mirren looking to put a firmer grip on a top six spot with multiple teams still in the race with the split edging closer. Michael Wimmer’s side are buoyed by a win over Rangers last time out and news surrounding one of their academy prospects.
Lennon Miller has been called into Steve Clarke’s side for matches in the Nations League play-off with Greece. Wimmer says the teenager is more than ready to take that leap into an elite group of midfielders such as John McGinn, Billy Gilmour and others.
Motherwell kid praised
He said: "He has played over 50 games in the Premiership so I think he is ready. I'm not the national coach, but I think he is ready to play. If the coach [Clarke] thinks he is ready, then he is ready. He has good fitness now, he has worked really hard for the last two weeks as he is coming back from his injury and we will see if he gets to show his qualities.
"He has the quality and the attitude to make it [to the top]. But the most important thing for me is that he is focused on the day-to-day and he tries to be the best version of himself. I am very happy for Lennon, he deserves it. He is a brilliant player, a great talent.
"He knows talent alone is not enough and he has a great work ethic. Everybody in the team is happy for Lennon. I watched the games before I came and got a picture and also the name Lennon Miller. There are rumours in Germany also, so I know the name and I saw the first session from him. I saw his quality. For me it's more important the work ethic from the player. Lennon likes to work, Lennon is a player who wants to develop, who wants to improve. He's very interesting in everything. He talks to the older guys, the guys who are more experienced, like Andy Halliday and Liam Gordon. He listens to the sentence and he listens to what the coaches say. He's a really good player and hopefully he's starting a big, big career.
“One of the most important things for me is that he's focused. He's focused on day-to-day, he tries to be the best version of himself each training session. Not what is in three months, what is in two months. No, he's always based and he's working hard every day. He's focused and the next focus is the game on Saturday against St Mirren.”
Injury boosts
There is good news for Motherwell in that goalkeeper Aston Oxborough is back in training, with a return to action scheduled for a friendly match next week. Stephen O’Donnell and Apostolos Stamatelopoulos could also be back involved against the Buddies.
On possible weekend involvement for O’Donnell and Stamatelopoulos, Wimmer said: “They are in the full training session and SOD's is there since Monday."
In terms of Oxborough and the Saints battle, Wimmer added: “He is in full training. He will also play on Wednesday a friendly game and will play the full 90 minutes. I am very happy at the moment and we will see how he performs. He had a load in the training and we sill see how he reacts after the injury. I am very happy to have many great goalkeepers. Friday after the training session, I will nominate the squad and we will see what the guys offer me and then hopefully make the right decision.
“I love to work with these guys and I am very proud of the guys, because I see how they work on each training session and they work so hard and they try to implement the things and they try to do it. Of course, it could not work for everything, it takes time, but I see they want to do it and this is the most important thing. I see how they do it and with which intensity they do it. If I see their face, sometimes they are smiling and laughing, so I think they enjoy it.”