Hibs defender can be 'anything he wants to be' says gaffer, as Socceroos prep for crucial World Cup qualifiers

Answering a question with a question, having been invited to describe the character traits of Aussie defender Lewis Miller, Hibs boss David Gray grins as he asks: “How long have you got? It's an interesting question …” Cue knowing laughs all round, as the gaffer pokes gentle fun at the guy currently occupying his old starting position at right back.

Once the giggling has stopped, though, Gray makes it clear that he thinks extremely highly of Miller, who is rebuilding his Socceroos career after a disastrous Asian Cup cameo very nearly ended it before it had begun. As a player and a character, the kid ticks a lot of bosses for the rookie head coach.

With Martin Boyle missing this World Cup trip with Australia as he recovers from surgery on his right hand/wrist, Miller has been flying solo for qualifiers against China in Adelaide and Japan in Saitama. New Socceroos gaffer Tony Popovic had no reservations about picking the former Central Coast star, who had been recalled by predecessor Graham Arnold earlier this season.

Gray, playing along with the image of ‘Millsy’ as some loveable larrikin always liable to be getting himself into mischief, said: “I'm interested to see how he'll do, going away without Martin to hold his hand, to be honest!

“In all seriousness, though, he's someone who can be anything he wants to be. When you look at him from an athletic point of view, he regularly shows those attributes.

“He also has moments where he knows he needs to improve, and that's something we've really worked hard on in the last year and a half since he's been at the club, to be honest. Having played the same position as me, from a coaching point of view, there's a lot of things that I try and help him with. But he is such a big, strong, powerful boy that he can really affect games of football.”

Miller has spoken openly about the cruel side of football that saw him vilified and abused on social media for a couple of costly mistakes as pre-tournament favourites Australia crashed out of the Asian Cup in a blaze of ignominy last February. Gray, part of the Hibs coaching staff who did their best to help their player bounce back from such a public knockdown, admitted: “Yes, he was going through a tough time. But he's a confident big guy as well, so he has got a lot of faith in his ability, and he just seems to take everything in his stride.

“That's the type of personality he's got and it's good that he's able to bounce back from these things pretty quickly. So I think he's responded really well and it's great that he's still in the squads and he's pushing on. My focus is on his performances here and hopefully, when he gets the opportunity, he plays to his maximum.”

Boyle’s absence from the Australia squad is, Gray admits, something of a bonus for Hibs, who have been without the winger since he went under the knife to fix an injury that had been dogging him all season. The Aussies were never going to take a player who hasn’t trained, never mind played, since the middle of last month. And that suits Hibs fine.

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“Well, ideally, selfishly for me, 100%, you want him here all the time, I think,” said Gray. “The fewer games that the players play benefits the football club.

“But at the same time you never want to stand in the way of a player looking to represent their country, it's the greatest achievement you can get, so it's that balance in between. And I think the biggest thing is if the player's happy, I think if he's happy and he's fit and he wants to go and play, and he's feeling good about himself, I think you always want to encourage that.

“If their form's really good as well, you want them to play as many games as they can and keep that going. But in this situation, because he's not played any games since he's hurt his hand and had his operation, it's better that he's probably missing this trip, that would probably be the right thing, just with the timing of it as well.”