Miller wants to be Town's penalty man (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

SWINDON TOWN: Miller wants to be Town's penalty man

6:00am Saturday 30th June 2012 in Sport By Andy Warren

Miller wants to be Town's penalty man

NEW signing Tommy Miller is keen to put himself on the spot and continue his exceptional penalty record following his move to Swindon.

The 33-year-old moved to the County Ground from Huddersfield last week, and brought with him a record of having successfully converted 33 out his 34 career penalties.

Miller found the net with his first 29 attempts during his spells with Hartlepool, Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday, before missing the only normal-time penalty of his career for Wednesday at home to Charlton in January last year.

The midfielder got back on his horse straight away, though, and although he missed twice in shootouts for Huddersfield last season, including in the League One play-off final, he is keen to take up the duty for his new club.

“In the last two shootouts I missed penalties for Huddersfield, which was really not ideal because before that I scored all but one of the penalties I had taken,” he said.

“The last two have been disappointing but I would love to take the next one.

“If I am playing I would love to take one, it has never bothered me in the past and I am confident now despite missing a couple.

“It used to keep being brought up all the time, and when I scored penalties people would say I had scored another and kept up a 100 per cent record.

“It was inevitable I would miss one eventually, even though I didn’t want to, but it kept getting talked about more and more, but I am still confident now.”

Miller will join the rest of the Town squad when they jet off to Italy tomorrow, where they will spend two weeks on the banks of Lake Garda preparing for the club’s assault on League One.

But while some players will be dreading the prospect of a gruelling Paolo Di Canio pre-season, Miller believes it is increasingly necessary for players of his age.

“Pre-season takes you to different places, and Lake Garda is a lovely place to go, although there will be a lot of hard work going on that is for sure,” he said.

“It is more important when you are getting older like me because you need to have a good pre-season to build up your base levels of fitness and then, during the season, you can build on that.

“When you get little knocks and niggles it seems to affect you a bit more as you get older, but if you get a good pre-season sorted then that can help you stay injury-free.

“It is also a great opportunity for you to be able to bond with your new teammates, and it is important you know each other well before the season starts.”

Meanwhile, the club confirmed yesterday that goalkeeper Mattia Lanzano has left the County Ground by mutual consent.