IT can often be difficult to extract joy from football at this time of year, with players and teams still finding their feet, form and fitness, even in quasi-competitive matches such as the League Cup group stages.
But the Motherwell supporters have certainly found some in watching the blossoming of Lennon Miller in their midfield over the course of their four group games.
The 16-year-old shone as he got his second goal of the summer to break the deadlock in Saturday’s win over East Fife that sealed their place in the last 16 of the tournament, with striker Conor Wilkinson and Callum Slattery rounding off the scoring for the Steelmen.
The latter of those, Miller’s fellow midfielder Slattery, is in awe of the maturity the youngster has shown since breaking into Stuart Kettlewell’s team, and while he didn’t expect to be made to feel like a veteran at the age of just 24, the seasoned performances of his teammate has the Englishman convinced that Miller can go to the very top.
In the here and now though, he is simply taking joy from watching him perform at such close quarters.
“He is a very big prospect,” Slattery said.
“He looks so composed and much older than his years. He’s good to play next to and seems very experienced for his age.
“I’m just hoping he can keep that up, I know he can because he has the quality to do it. He’s a very good player and it’s joyful to watch him play at the moment.
“He is so young and for him to be doing that in games at senior level is good for him and he can hopefully take it into the season.
“I’m only 24 and he makes me feel really old! He’s beyond his years and you forget at times that he’s 16, especially on the pitch because he is so mature in the way he plays.
“He’s there to keep learning and hopefully he continues doing that and kicks on this season.”
The result of Saturday’s match was never really in any doubt after Miller’s opener, but a welcome first goal in claret and amber for Wilkinson and a red card for East Fife’s Jonathan Page meant the three points were Motherwell’s before the interval.
Slattery’s own second goal of the group stage was a thing of beauty though to put the icing on the cake, showing nice footwork to eek out a yard of space in a congested penalty area and finding the bottom corner with a fine finish.
Motherwell are of course in post-Kevin van Veen territory this season, but they have managed to hit 10 goals in their four games to date – albeit against lower league opposition – and Slattery says it is vital that he and others around the team share the burden of plugging the gap the talismanic Dutchman has left in their attack.
“I want to add that to my game, getting further up the pitch and if I get the chance, I have to take it,” he said.
“I had a couple against East Fife that I didn’t [take], but thankfully in the second half I managed to put one away. More importantly, it helped the team as well. When you chip in, it’s good for the team.
“Last season we had Kev putting the goals away, which helped massively. But he’s not here this season, so it’s up to us as a team and the players higher up the field to take ownership and start putting numbers on the board.
“I’m trying to do that and I know some of the other players are as well, so if we can all chip in it will definitely help along the season.
“When Kev left, in a respectful way we weren’t thinking: ‘Kev’s gone, we’re screwed.’ We knew what we had as a team and if we prepped for each game properly and put into practice what the manager wants us to do, we will perform on a Saturday.”
