Celtic youngster Calvin Miller watched teammate Tony Ralston mix it with Neymar on Tuesday night, and despite the chastening scoreline meted out by a rampant PSG, dreamed of following in his footsteps.
Ralston was handed a Champions League debut against the might of the French giants, and the 18-year-old certainly wasn’t daunted by the task of quite literally going toe-to-toe with the world’s most expensive player.
A couple of hours earlier, Miller had turned out in drenched Dumbarton in front of a couple of hundred soggy souls, turning in a hugely impressive performance as Celtic under-19s fell narrowly to their PSG counterparts.
Having made his top-team debut last season against Partick Thistle and already tasted first-team action this term in Celtic’s win at Kilmarnock, Miller is hoping that his hard work will see him force his way into Brendan Rodgers’ thoughts on a more regular basis.
And there is no greater inspiration than seeing his good friend take on the best players on the planet.
“It’s brilliant,” Miller said. “Me and Tony have been training with the first team every day, and it just shows you that the manager trusts the young ones.
“Tony is the same as me, he’s nice and aggressive and he works hard.
“The manager obviously trusts us, so that’s a big thing for us, and I’m just going to keep working hard and show him what I can do.
“Hopefully I’ll get another opportunity soon.”
Miller believes that his exposure to the standards adhered to by Celtic’s top professionals on a daily basis in training has transformed him as a player, looking every inch the first-team member making the step down in the match against PSG, rather than a raw youngster.
“I feel like I’ve got that first-team sharpness through training with them every day,” he said.
“I’m getting fitter and I’m becoming a better player, and I think I showed that in the game against PSG.
“I’m better at pressing and my level of fitness has improved, allowing me to get touch tight to people. In the later stages of the game, I’m able to go and make that run and help the team.
“The full team have been helping me, they are a great bunch of lads. They talk to you, they don’t make you feel out of place, you feel like one of them basically.
“Even the manager, he takes you aside and talks to you, makes you feel comfortable, so there’s a great bond within the squad.
“When I come down to the 20s now I feel like the experienced one, and I feel like I can help them out.
“I can talk to them and show them how easy it can be if you put the work in. It just naturally comes to your game."
As a winger turned full-back, Miller says that Kieran Tierney, who made the same transition in his early career, is having a big influence on his game.
“It was December last year I got put in against Man City because we never had a left-back, and the gaffer like me there,” said Miller.
“Before I knew it I was making my debut there against Partick Thistle.
“When you play with the first-team you are like a winger anyway because you have so much of the ball, but I’m learning that defensive side and it’s getting better and better.
“I kind of watch what Kieran Tierney does and take that into my game. I’m just learning on the defensive side and I’m only getting better.”
“I thought we were brilliant. We’re a young side, we’re still learning.
“At this level you have to take your chances, and if we score the penalty to make it 3-1, it could have been a totally different game.”
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