Hibs Exclusive: Summer of hard graft and mama's home cooking leaves Lewis hungry for success

Miller celebrates his second goal in Saturday's win over Peterhead. | SNS Group

A diet of tough physical activity and mum’s home-made pasta sounds like the ideal close season for most dedicated athletes. In the case of Lewis Miller, a man separated from his family by thousands of miles and a nine-hour time difference, diving into a bowl – or six - of mama’s fettuccine might have been as helpful as any specialist rehab he was getting during a busy summer visit to his hometown of Sydney.

The rampaging right back, who limped off with a hamstring problem in the first half of March’s 2-2 draw with Ross County in Dingwall, didn’t feature again as last season ended in a late collapse – and another managerial sacking. For a player who was especially close to axed gaffer Nick Montgomery, thanks to their previous achievements at Central Coast Mariners, being stuck on the sidelines while the team struggled was absolute torture.

Miller, who appreciates the support he got from everyone at Hibs on returning from a difficult experience with the Socceroos at the Asian Cup in mid-season, with the 23-year-old copping some vile abuse from Aussie fans, obviously wants to embrace the idea of season 2024-25 as a fresh start. With two goals against Peterhead at the weekend buoying his spirits, and with a trip to Paisley coming this Sunday, he’s eager to get stuck into another Scottish Premiership campaign.

“Injuries kind of killed me again last season, where I missed almost half of the season,” he said, adding: “I started off very strong, then went away with Australia, and kind of just spiralled after that.

“It’s just a case of keeping my head down and repeating the good things. I’m desperate to have a really good season, hopefully stand out, see where it takes us as a team.”

Explaining how he’d spent his summer, Miller revealed how he’d found a winning mix of graft and gastronomic delights back in Oz, saying: “Because I was injured, I actually went back home to do my rehab for quite a while. I did extra as well, so I had fewer days off than most. I did about two weeks extra rehab in Australia, then came back early – a week before pre-season – and did a bit more, so I could be ready.

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“I really wanted to get my head in the game. I needed to be 100 per cent when the season started. I’m in a good spot now, so I can focus on performance.

“I did the rehab work at a clinic close to home, about 10 minutes from my family’s house, so it was very convenient for me. It worked out very well, the facilities were excellent and very close. So I couldn’t have asked for more.

“And it felt good to be home. It felt like a year since I’d been back for a proper visit.

“It was great to settle down, see family and catch up with friends, refresh and reset, get my head dialled back in. And get some good home cooking, yeah.

“My mum is Italian. She cooks the most amazing and unbelievable dishes.”

Not usually stumped for an answer, Miller actually groaned when asked to name his favourite family recipe, eventually deciding: “Oh … I would have to go with a fettuccine. She does a pesto fettuccine with, like, mushrooms, chicken. Oh god, it’s amazing. I have to lay off that sort of thing now!

“Fortunately I was working hard in rehab. And I then had a good pre-season as well. Everything feels positive at the moment, especially now that we’ve been winning some games.”

Miller bagged a double against Peterhead in Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup clash, a mad goal chase that saw Hibs do just enough to finish top of Group C, their 4-0 victory keeping them ahead of Queen’s Park – 6-0 winners over Kelty – at the summit. He opened the scoring with a left-footed inswinger of a cross from the right, the ball evading everyone on its way to goal, and netted a second with a smart close-range finish just before the hour mark.

He revealed: “I’ve got a competition going with Warren O’Hora. He was one ahead of me. Well, it was one-nil … but as defenders, we’ve been having that inside competition. So it’s great to be ahead of him.

“Nah, the first goal was a cross. I was just trying to put it into a dangerous area, and it went in. I was buzzing. I suppose the back of the net is a dangerous area. Seriously, if you put it into that area, you never know what might happen – a deflection, a flick-on, anything.

“The second goal was more like it. I knew exactly where the goal was, so it was just a matter of getting something behind it and hitting the target.

“The manager has told us, as full-backs, to go and get in the box at the right time. With the formation we played against Peterhead, he stressed how much freedom the full-backs would have, how much space there would be for us.

“The way the game panned out, it shows he knows exactly what he’s talking about. It was just a case of me and Jordan exploiting that space, putting the ball in dangerous areas, creating chances.

“We knew we had to score goals because Queen’s Park were right behind us, banging them in. It was great for us just to top the group, in the end.”

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Attention now turns to St Mirren, who are likely to be at least a little emotionally fatigued, regardless of how tomorrow night’s Europa Conference League clash against FC Valur goes. With a full week to prepare, Hibs have to be ready for this one.

Miller said: “Yeah, I think it was important that we got a positive result and performance heading into the start of the season. Now it’s up to us to get fully focused on the league starting up. We’re all really excited and eager to see where the season takes us.

“It’s always hard to say where we should be or want to be. But our goal is always to try – try – to win every game we can. It’s about putting in the effort, showing the fans – and the manager – that we’re able to turn things around this season, get results and hopefully finish high up the table, to make the supporters happy.

“We’re obviously still disappointed about losing to Kelty Hearts. But we’ve had some good results, played some good football. This club is going in the right direction.

“And we’ve got the players her to absolutely kill this season. It’s just a matter of time.”