Socceroos star Miller helps Rovers win huge derby
Australia's Lewis Miller admitted he blacked out for a moment after bravely heading Blackburn Rovers' opener in a vital 2-1 Lancashire derby win over high-flying Preston North End that moved his side further clear of the EFL Championship drop zone.
Miller rose highest to power home a corner from Ryan Hedges just before the break, collapsing to the floor immediately after for a few moments before eventually standing again to celebrate.
But his opener was cancelled out from the restart as Preston pulled level in stoppage-time at the end of the first half through Alfie Devine.
But Andri Gudjohnsen was on hand to head home what would ultimately be the winner just after the hour mark, coolly nodding in at the far post from a beautifully floated free-kick by Ryoya Morishita.
Miller, who played both Socceroos friendlies during the international window against Venezeula and Colombia, said he had no memory of his first goal for Rovers.
"I don't remember the goal," he said. "I headed the ball and kind of blacked out for a few seconds and the lads just picked me up and said, 'You've scored'. It's a good feeling to get my first.
"My body is kind of in bits at the moment but I'll do anything to get on the pitch and play 90 minutes, I love these boys, we've got such a great group and I'll do everything I can to play and help this club go up."
Blackburn's intent was clear from the get-go and when it did eventually go ahead through Miller, it was no more than the visitors deserved.
"From minute one I think that we were in the game. We knew that we had to stand up the first 20 minutes," Rovers boss Valerian Ismael said after the match.
"After an international break there’s always a lot of energy when you restart the Championship and we were strong, solid and, after we came into the game.
"The last 20 minutes of the first half is exactly what we wanted until the end of the game. We had good moments, created a lot of chances. We stood again well in the middle of the second half. Preston were pushing.
"I think it was a decent win today. A very strong away performance again."
Matchwinner Gudjohnsen revealed that while gifting Preston an equaliser immediately after they had gone ahead was disappointing, Rovers used the half-time break to reset and go again.
"We sat down at half-time, talked about what we needed to do in the second half and we've done that to perfection," he said.
"We stayed in the game, were good on the ball and in the end we get the second goal, they don't score in the second half so it's just a really solid performance."
