IT'S MILLER TIME! Scot's fledgling career in Italy has been more of a slow burn than explosion ... but that may be about to change with Udinese requiring a spark to ignite their season

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Lennon Miller will be feeling that way about domestic football now the international break is over.

His start to life at Udinese has been more of a slow burn than an explosion thus far, with the precocious Scottish teenager yet to start a Serie A game.

However, there is a growing feeling that this is soon going to change.

Miller’s involvement in Scotland’s victories over Greece and Belarus was restricted to one cameo appearance from the bench, but he returns to Italy with glowing references ringing in his ears.

‘Miller is the youngster who has surprised me the most,’ said Udinese’s 34-year-old defender Christian Kabasele this week.

‘He has so much quality and personality, he isn’t afraid to try and play the final ball. Despite his age, he has no fear of throwing himself into tackles. He will be an important player for this club.’

It’s an opinion that has been widely shared since the midfielder’s arrival in Friuli.

Miller only recently turned 19, but his work behind the scenes in Udine has already impressed many of those who see him day in, day out.

When he arrived from Motherwell in a £4.75million move in August, Udinese described him as ‘one of the brightest young talents in European football’ - and the club are convinced they got that bold declaration completely right.

Veteran Udinese goalkeeper Daniele Padelli has been around the block in a career featuring spells at 11 clubs, including Inter and Liverpool.

One of the elder statesmen of the Zebrette squad, the 39-year-old sees big reasons for optimism in those at the other end of the age spectrum, including Miller and his 22-year-old midfield colleague Arthur Atta.

‘We already knew that Atta was good last year when he wasn’t playing much,’ said Padelli. ‘We saw him in training and were saying it then ... if he continues to work like this, he can become a great player.

‘Miller is good, and I would repeat the same things about him that I said about Atta last year. He has vision of the game, personality, he can become a key player. In our tactical system he is a mezzala (a wide central midfield player) but, with a different set-up, he could also be a playmaker.”

The young Scot has been regularly picked out for praise since his arrival, something he’ll have surely picked up on in an international dressing room where English is used in tandem with Italian.

It’s not just the teenager’s team-mates who have been impressed, either. Udinese sporting director Gokhan Inler hailed his ‘good feet and great intelligence’, and the former Napoli and Leicester City midfielder believes Miller ‘is already showing he can compete for a starting spot’.

Head coach Kosta Runjaic has opted to give Miller a slow and steady introduction to Italian football, handing him a start in the Coppa Italia against Palermo last month, in which he scored.

Otherwise, he has offered him only a couple of substitute outings in Serie A.

Club captain Jesper Karlstrom and French talent Atta have so far had two of the three central midfield berths nailed down, while Miller has the likes of Slovenia international Sandi Lovric, former Ajax man Jurgen Ekkelenkamp and fellow summer signing Jakub Piotrowski for competition for the remaining spot.

‘Miller is a great talent and he’s starting to show us what he can do,’ said manager Runjaic after the Scot’s full debut in the cup.

‘He has great technical and running abilities. Miller can cover many positions on the pitch: holding midfielder, central midfielder and even as a No 10 with his vision.’

Competition for places may be rife, but Udinese’s wobbly recent form may yet open a window of opportunity.

They made a fast start to the season, picking up seven points from three games and stunning Inter at San Siro.

However, they went into the international break winless in three.

Runjaic described himself as ‘confused and angry’ after the 3-1 defeat to Sassuolo, while club legend Antonio Di Natale bemoaned a ‘lack of consistency’ that could prevent the club from achieving their ‘potential of reaching 50 points’.

The mini slump put Udinese in 12th place in 20-team Serie A.

Miller could get his chance soon, and has already gained a reputation amongst fans as someone who can ignite a spark despite having just 124 minutes of football under his belt.

An editorial on the Tutto Udinese website viewed Millar as someone who ’seems to have arrived in Friuli with clear ideas. Step by step, the Scot is aiming to grab the keys to the midfield’

After his goal against Palermo, fans responded very positively on social media.

One wrote: ‘I knew he was good, but never imagined this good’, while another was presumably joking when he declared that: ‘Scott McTominay can only tremble, the new MVP of Serie A has arrived’.

A third said: ‘Finally we can see a bit of magic.’

It’s doubtful that many regulars at Bluenergy Stadium will be familiar with the hero of Miller’s hometown, snooker legend John Higgins, but they will nevertheless be delighted if they soon have reason to dub him their own ‘Wizard of Wishaw’.

The man himself is keeping his feet on the ground. Miller described his first goal as ‘massive’ and ‘hopefully the first of many’ but insisted that he just ‘wants to show the coach I’m ready to play every week’.

Miller was settling in before the September break. He dipped his toes in Serie A waters before the October break. Now, with a month to go until Scotland’s November double-header against Greece and Denmark, he will hope to seize a starting shirt.

If Runjaic’s side are to stop a slump snowballing into something worse, they need wins in their next two games, away to Jamie Vardy’s Cremonese on Monday night and at home to Lecce the following Saturday. After that, a block of daunting dates awaits against Juventus, Atalanta and Roma.

They have no doubts about Miller’s ability in Udine. In the next few weeks, the rest of Italy may well come to appreciate it, too.