Goal gets Miller back up to speed in Major League

The Scotland manager is in the middle of the Steven Fletcher controversy as he plans for next month’s double-header against Wales and Belgium. Back-up forward Ross McCormack, of Leeds, will also miss out after being sidelined for up to six weeks with an ankle injury, while Craig Mackail-Smith limped off during Brighton’s win at Millwall on Saturday. But Miller, who netted in the 1-1 draw with Macedonia, had some good news as he answered his critics with an excellent display for Vancouver Whitecaps as they were held 2-2 by Colorado Rapids in the early hours of Monday morning. The forward was thrown on at half-time as his side trailed to a goal from Omar Cummings and the 32-year-old delivered his best display in the MLS.

He said: “That was my liveliest performance since I came here. Ideally, I wanted to hit the ground running and settle in a lot quicker than I have done. However, there are a lot of things to take into consideration. I left Cardiff City at the end of a campaign to come to Vancouver in the middle of their season.

“It’s a new country, a new style of football, but there are no excuses. However, I feel I am now pretty much where I hope to be as far as fitting into things is concerned. Hopefully, I can now build on this performance. Obviously, it was great to get my first goal at home in front of my own fans. That’s what gets them off the seats and that’s a good feeling.”

Former Old Firm star Miller also paid tribute to ex-Celtic player Barry Robson for setting up the strike. He said: “It was a superb pass from Barry, right into my stride. I was in one-on-one with the keeper and he got a touch to my shot, but, thankfully, couldn’t stop the ball from going over the line. It was a good feeling to see that one hit the net.”

Miller’s 68th-minute goal made it 2-1 for the Canadian outfit as they fight it out over the next four games for a play-off place. Colorado’s leveller four minutes from time was scored by former Celtic and Aberdeen winger Jamie Smith.