'It's exciting' - Scotland hopeful eager to impress Sebastien Pocognoli after World Cup snub
20y/o hoping to catch the eye after ‘disappointing’ summer omission
Sébastien Pocognoli will name his maiden Scotland squad next month as the national team returns for the first time since their disappointing exit at the World Cup finals.
The Belgian will take charge of his debut match after replacing Steve Clarke when they face Slovenia in Ljubljana on September 26. It will be the first fixture of their 2026 Nations League campaign where they will also take on Switzerland and North Macedonia.
One player who is hoping for a return to the group after missing out on a trip to the USA, Canada and Mexico is Lennon Miller. The young midfielder, who turned 20 earlier this week, was a notable omission from Clarke’s 33-man squad in the summer.
Lennon Miller using World Cup omission as motivation to regain Scotland place under Sébastien Pocognoli
However, the former Motherwell man says he is using that as extra motivation to try and impress the new national team head coach. He’s hoping to earn regular game time with Udinese in Italy’s Serie A and force his way back into the Scotland team.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Scottish Football Social Club, he said: "It was obviously really disappointing because, to represent your country at the World Cup, we've not had many chances in the past. It was disappointing but the manager phoned me and explained why and his reasons why and I understood why.
“I wished them all the best and it took me back a wee bit to being a fan and watching them because I've obviously been in the squads and stuff and looked at it a wee bit different. That is what it is and I enjoyed my summer watching the boys and had some good holidays as well.
“These disappointments, they need to fuel you. You can't sit and be like, oh, I've never got that chance, it can't stall you for maybe another three or four months.
“I looked at it as a positive and thought it's time to prove that I can be at this level and get in the next squad and look forward to the new manager coming in and hopefully impressing him and getting in. I think it's exciting for everybody, the new manager coming in and seeing what he does.
“Maybe new players, maybe a new style. I think it's exciting for everybody and hopefully I can get my chance at Udinese to impress him and get in these squads and see what it's all about."
Miller was fortunate to have a former Scotland international to share his disappointment with in the form of his father Lee. The ex Aberdeen and Falkirk striker has had a huge influence on his son’s burgeoning career so far and helped him deal with being left out of the World Cup squad.
“He was massive,” explained Lennon. “He's always been massive but when you get these kind of setbacks, he's had setbacks in his career as well, it's good to just bounce things off and get his opinion on stuff as well.
“He kind of gets it from a different headspace. So, it's good to kind of bounce things off him and get the advice from his playing career as well."
Scotland will face Slovenia away, Switzerland at home, North Macedonia away and then Slovenia at home in the next round of international fixtures between the end of September and start of October. They will then face North Macedonia at home and Switzerland away in November to round off their Nations League campaign.
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