Miller wants Town to strike first

TOMMY Miller is not sure Ipswich would know what to do if they went ahead in a league game after twice having to come from behind already this season, writes Derek Davis.

The Blues beat Gillingham 2-1 after going a goal down and then fought back for a draw at Nottingham Forest.

Miller admits Town need to start getting a grip on games early on and can not keep riding their luck.

Miller, who revealed to the EADT last month that he was in intensive care after surgery to realign his jaw which meant breaking it in three places, has recovered from that setback and a sore foot picked up in the win over Gillingham.

The 25-year-old midfielder is hoping that he can be part of the side that takes the lead in games from now on.

He said: "It would be interesting see what would happen then, wouldn't it?

"We really need to sort that out because we can't keep doing it. It was bad enough doing it once but to go and do it again was shocking, especially as we had played well in the first 20 minutes. We rode our luck a bit after that but we came away with a draw, which could turn out to be an important point."

Miller is exactly the sort of player who can do something about it with goals from midfield. And, after having couple of shots in the box blocked recently, he believes he is due one soon.

He said: "If I can keep getting into the box then something will happen. I've been a bit unfortunate so far but I'm sure one will go in soon."

Miller netted 11 goals last season, with a few penalties thrown in for good measure, but needs to be looking for another five on top of that.

Signed for less than £1m from Hartlepool by George Burley, Miller is grateful to the former Town boss who, he feels sure, will do a good job at Pride Park.

He said: "He gave me my chance at playing in the Premiership and showed faith in me when he brought me from a Third Division club and I will always owe him a lot for that."

That won't stop him trying to get one over on his old boss today, although he appreciates Derby will finish higher than they are at the moment.

He said: "They are better than the position shows. They have had two hard games and although we want to make it three I expect they will do well after that. They were unlucky not to get something out of the Leicester game.

"George has showed at Ipswich he can build a team from nothing and is doing the same at Derby. He has never been afraid to give young players their chance and he has brought through a few at Derby, plus he has brought in a couple of foreign players.

"He also has experience in the form of Ian Taylor who is a terrific player.

"He is strong in midfield and can score goals. He has shown already this season that he is capable of getting in the box and hit the woodwork against Leeds."

Fellow midfielder Jim Magilton will miss out again but everyone else has come through training fine and the only change in the line-up is likely to be Pablo Counago starting in place of Shefki Kuqi as Joe Royle looks to freshen up his attack.

It is also possible that Dean Bowditch gets the nod ahead of Darren Bent, although the other option is a three-man attack at the expense of loanee Tony Dinning.