Lennon Miller's Journey from Heartbreak to Opportunity in Scotland Squad

Liverpool felt a long way from Boston and Miami that night on the banks of the Mersey.

Three thousand, one hundred and ninety-six miles separate Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium from the home of the New England Patriots, where Scotland would open their World Cup campaign against Haiti in June. For Lennon Miller, that distance started to take shape on 31 March, in the cold, under the floodlights, with his dad at his side.

He had been in the squad. He had done the hard part, or so it seemed. The Udinese midfielder was called into Steve Clarke's group for the friendlies against Japan at Hampden and Ivory Coast in that international window. Supporters were crying out for something new, for a glimpse of the next generation. Miller did not play a single minute.

The picture told the story. His father, Lee, an ex-Scotland striker, consoling him at the side of the pitch in Liverpool. A quiet, raw moment that hinted at what was coming.

When Clarke named his squad for his World Cup farewell against Curacao, the blow landed fully. Uncapped 19-year-old Tyler Fletcher of Manchester United was called instead of the former PFA Young Player of the Year. Miller stayed at home. He would not be going to the World Cup.

"It was really difficult. It was a difficult summer," Lee admitted. "There's no getting away from it.

"As a family, we had to get round about him. He's been in the game long enough. Obviously, as a player, he's been in the game a few years.

"But with myself being in the game, just a few words of wisdom and encouragement. And, listen, it wasn't to be for him. Obviously somebody wasn't meant to go to the World Cup for whatever reason.

"But he just needs to get on with things and knuckle down and work hard."

That is exactly what he has done.

Clarke has gone. A new era has started. Sebastien Pocognoli has walked into the job with a clear brief from the Tartan Army: change it, freshen it, be braver.

His first squad for the upcoming Nations League double-header reflects that shift. There is a different feel to it. And right in the middle of that change, Lennon Miller is back.

Now 20 and in his second season with Udinese, he is no longer the wide-eyed kid thrown into the Motherwell first team six days after his 16th birthday. Italy has hardened him, stretched him, forced him to grow.

He has played in all five of I Bianconeri's Serie A matches this season, starting the last two. He has been trusted in the cup as well, completing the full 90 minutes in the win over Venezia earlier this month and featuring heavily in both Italy Cup victories.

The move was always going to be a steep climb. New country, new culture, new demands. A monumental learning curve for a teenager who had barely finished school when he was first pitched into senior football.

Lee, who will pull on his boots again for Aberdeen in the Tennent's Sixes tournament next month, has watched that development from a distance, and with no little pride.

"It's great to see him back in. And the manager had a nice Facetime with him the day before the squad was announced," he said. "So real positive on the front foot.

"The first season [in Italy is] obviously to try and find his feet, bed in a little bit. This season, he's had more minutes already. So it's been really good.

"If anything, he's developing every single day over there. It's a totally different regime, totally different set up, lifestyle. Everything about it has been excellent.

"So he just needs to continue doing what he's doing there. And hopefully take it in the Scotland squad."

From the sting of omission to the promise of a recall, Miller now walks back into a Scotland camp that looks and sounds different. The miles between Liverpool and Foxborough once measured heartbreak.

Now they measure opportunity.