The Firhill midfield is set to see Scotland’s best young talent face off this weekend when Dundee head to Motherwell.
The battle for supremacy in the middle of the park will be a fascinating one for anybody who has been keeping tabs on the Scotland U/21 side.
Though they fell short in qualification for next year’s European Championships this week, three of the standout players from that squad are readying for action at Fir Park this weekend.
Motherwell star Lennon Miller took the captain’s armband at the end of Scotland’s 3-2 defeat in Kazakhstan despite being only 18. This week he was backed by manager Stuart Kettlewell to make the step up to the senior squad.
‘Privileged position’
Dundee’s Josh Mulligan, meanwhile, was the most experienced player in that U/21 squad with team-mate Lyall Cameron also a key man in midfield alongside Miller.
Depending on their fitness after an exhausting 12-hour flight home from Kazakhstan, Saturday’s Premiership clash promises to be a fascinating battle of young Scots.
One that Dens boss Tony Docherty is relishing.
“It is great and brilliant for Scottish football,” Docherty said.
“You have very talented young players doing really well for their clubs and that has transpired into them doing well at the appropriate international level. It is all positive.
“I know [Lennon Miller’s father] Lee Miller well also and they are all good boys.
“Lyall [Cameron] is a brilliant boy and all he wants to do, like Josh Mulligan, is he wants to get better and to improve.
“Sometimes when you work with young players you need them to be receptive and these two are brilliant boys and will have top careers.
“From what I hear Lennon Miller is the same type.
“He has real respect for the senior players in their squad, like Josh and Lyall have here.
“That will stand them in good stead.
“I think we are in a privileged position where we have talented young players like them and they will be pitting their wits against each other on Saturday.”
‘Things will start to fall for us’
Docherty hopes to see his young talents come out on top and insists form will turn for Dundee soon.
The Dark Blues go into this contest on the back of four straight defeats but Docherty says displays on the pitch suggest his team aren’t far away.
“I have been really, really happy with the performances of the team,” he added.
“I just think if we continue that level then by the law of averages things will start to fall for us.
“We will start to pick up the points we deserve.”
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