'Robust' Hibs defender wanted to tough it out on World Cup mission


Lewis Miller may have underestimated the knee injury that put his Socceroos comeback on hold, according to Hibs boss David Gray – who says the “robust” defender regularly plays with pain that would force other players onto the treatment table. Gray was expecting both Miller and Martin Boyle to report back from international duty with Australia late yesterday afternoon, depending on travel.
Boyle played in last week’s loss to Bahrain in Gold Coast, but Miller was rested for that World Cup qualifier after a knee injury sustained against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park “blew up” on the long flight to Brisbane, according to Aussie boss Graham Arnold. Neither Hibs player featured in Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Indonesia, although Miller did join his club-mate as an unused substitute for the game in Jakarta.
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Hide AdExplaining why Hibs had allowed Miller to stay in Australia for treatment rather than flying back to Edinburgh for immediate assessment by their own medical staff, Gray said: “Millsy had a bit of a knock after the Killie game that flared up on arrival in Australia, probably not helped by the flight. He was fit and available for Australia’s second game. But they didn’t take any risks with him, which was great.
“We had to find out the severity of his injury. The fact that he was still available for the second game meant it was the right thing to do, managing them the way they did.
“They were very quick, Australia, in letting us know that he’d arrived, had a bit of swelling on his knee, although that could have been down to the length of the time he had been on the plane.
“Millsy is a very robust boy, as well, you know? He plays through things. He has probably under-pitched it to us under the game, just saying: ‘Oh it’s just a bit sore …’ That could mean really sore to someone else.
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Hide Ad“But Millsy is that type. He underestimates it a bit because he just wants to play. He just loves playing, and he was desperate to go with his national team, having been playing well for us and feeling good about things.
“When he’s arrived there, it’s obviously been a little bit more of an issue than he thought. But they’ve managed it well. If there had been a risk of him being not involved in the second game, we’d have wanted him back as quickly as possible to get that journey out of his system as early as possible. Martin played the first game, didn’t play the second game so it’s not as if he’ll have as much fatigue, which is good.”
Admitting that the long-haul flights involved in playing for Australia added an extra element to assessing their fitness for this weekend’s visit of St Johnstone to Easter Road, Gray pointed out: “The one benefit is they do travel well. The national team do look after them when they go.
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Hide Ad“It’s just something that we’ve had to adjust to, when they come back, see how they feel. The opportunity to go and play for their national team is an honour, they enjoy doing it.
“Me personally, would I rather they didn’t go? Of course. You don’t want your players to go and sit on a plane for the length of time they do.
“But I would never stand in their way because it’s the greatest accolade of any players’ career. As long as they get back safely, we then work out how they are, how they’ve recovered – and get a plan from there. We won’t be taking any risks.”