Miller hails emergence of scorers Fletch and Rossco

Published on Friday 3 April 2009 09:45

KENNY MILLER is excited by the emergence of Ross McCormack and Steven Fletcher as goalscoring internationals as Scotland chase a World Cup qualifying play-off spot.

Both 22-year-olds scored their first full international goals as Scotland beat Iceland 2-1 on Wednesday night to move three points clear in second place in Group Nine. McCormack in particular impressed on his first Hampden appearance, and the Cardiff forward was Scotland's best player over the double header against Holland and Iceland.

Miller and James McFadden, when fit, have carried the burden of Scotland's goalscoring needs over the past five years and Miller is happy a new generation of talent is breaking through.

The 29-year-old former Hibs star said: "There were some great performances, I think Rossco in particular has done very well again. I thought he did well considering how tough the game was on Saturday night. And I'm absolutely delighted for him to get his first goal, and for Fletch to get his first goal.

"Hopefully that will set us up nicely for the rest of the campaign."

Miller is still confident he will return to the goal trail soon – his last goal for Scotland was now more than a year ago in George Burley's first match in charge, a 1-1 draw with Croatia.

He said: "I could have had a few chances on Wednesday with a wee bit of care with our final pass, particularly the one at the end where James (Morrison) has had a shot-cum cross when I thought he was going to roll it across for me to put it in an empty net. On another night he would have."

Scotland have an August 12 meeting with Norway in Oslo, where Miller's double helped them win in 2005, and home games with Macedonia and runaway leaders Holland. "We've got to get as many points as we can and if we can get nine that would be great," Miller added.