Having just turned 17 there is little wonder those at Motherwell are doing their best to keep Lennon Miller grounded.
The teenager has been a standout performer for Stuart Kettlewell's side this season. And while efforts are being made to remind him of the long road to success, team-mate Liam Kelly reckons there is no harm in admitting he is a "brilliant" talent.
Miller has featured in every Motherwell fixture this season and is racking up caps for Scotland at youth level. For Kelly, despite Miller's tender age, there are few holding midfielders better than him in Scotland.
“Everyone’s saying how young Lennon is and trying to play it down," admitted Kelly. "But it’s at the point where he’s just a brilliant player – forget about his age.
“He’s just a really good player. He’s really capable of playing at the level.
“There aren’t many sitting midfielders in the country better than him. Him and Harry have a brilliant partnership in front of our back-line.
“So, with his age you just want to play down his performance and try to keep him grounded. Ultimately, though, he’s just a brilliant player. So, there’s no harm in admitting that.”
While Miller's meteoric rise at Motherwell may have raised a few eyebrows, Kelly insists there should be no surprise to see the Fir Park side compete week in week out and defy any misconceptions over being a long-ball team.
“If you’ve watched us in the last few months then I don’t think you could’ve expected anything else," said Kelly of Motherwell's passing style of play deployed at Ibrox. "That gives us the best opportunity to win games.
“We’ve got loads of really technical players. So if we just start shelling balls up, hoping to land second balls and win from there, then it’s not going to work. We’re going to get beat.
“We need to play to our strengths. Our strengths are very good technical players, solid foundation and great structure without the ball. Over time we will convert these chances into goals. So performance, really good. It’s something to build on.
“We’re not happy losing games, but I think we’re okay with the fact that if we keep on playing like that then we’ll win more games than we’ll lose.”
And ahead of a daunting trip to Celtic Park this weekend, Kelly added: "People say you’d rather not play well and win. But over the course of the season you’ll get found out if you try and just wing it.
“Nobody does well just by winging it.
“Performance, you need to play well, you need to give yourself a good structure and a good chance in the game.
“And, listen, Rangers won the game and they had their chances. So, I’m not sitting here deluded thinking they couldn’t have scored a couple more goals. They could’ve.
“But coming to Ibrox playing the way we did gives us a lot of heart.
“However, if we lose our structure and don’t perform well against Celtic next week then we’ll get punished.
“So, structure well, give ourselves a platform to win the game, then we’ll get the best chance possible. “I think ultimately the most important thing for us is building. It’s still early on in the manager’s time here for us.
“We’re getting better every week.
“Alright, we should’ve taken something from the game. I think everybody who watched it knows that.
“Rangers are a really good team and they had their moments when they could’ve scored a couple more, as you’d expect at Ibrox.
“But, just really proud of the players and it’s really enjoyable being part of the team just now.”
