Caley Thistle new boy Miller Keir aiming to benefit from Billy Mckay tutelage

Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s new signing Miller Keir believes working with the club’s record goalscorer Billy Mckay will help bring the best out of him.

The striker has moved from Breedon Highland League club Turriff United to Championship outfit Caley Thistle and made his debut as a substitute in Tuesday’s 1-0 win against St Johnstone in the Premier Sports League Cup.

Keir scored 31 goals in all competitions for Turra last season and was the Highland League’s young player of the year and top scorer.

As he aims to fulfil his potential in full-time football, the 19-year-old is looking forward to picking the brain of Caley Thistle’s assistant manager Mckay.

As well as being Scott Kellacher’s number two, Mckay is a former Northern Ireland international, who has netted 132 goals for Inverness and also played for the likes of Ross County, Dundee United and Wigan Athletic.

Speaking to the Press and Journal, Keir said: “I’m really looking forward to working with Billy and benefiting from the experience he’s got.

“Before I went on against St Johnstone he was speaking to me and gave me a lot of advice in terms of my movement and positioning.

“I think I’ll really benefit from that and will improve, so I’m excited to see where that takes me.

“I really enjoyed coming on for my debut.

“The speed and intensity of the game is a lot different, but I really enjoyed it and it was good we won to give us a chance of getting through to the next round.”

Confidence after making move

Inverness paid a fee, believed to be five figures, to sign Keir and he says he’s eager to justify the faith the League One champions have shown in him.

He added: “It gives me a lot of confidence that Inverness wanted to take me in.

“Charlie Christie (chief executive) said to me that the club likes taking players from the Highland League after signing Jordan Alonge from Forres last year and they want to continue doing that where possible.

“So the fact they signed me and have faith in me gives me confidence, so hopefully I can repay their belief in me by scoring plenty of goals.

“I’m delighted to get the chance to be a full-time footballer. I’ve never been full-time before and I think training all the time will help me improve.

“I’m really happy to get the chance and it’s a bonus that I don’t have to study any more.

“I was studying business at college and was meant to be going to university, but I’m happier doing this.

“I’ll work as hard as I can and try to score as many goals as I can, just like I did at Turriff.”

Inverness was the best option

Caley Thistle weren’t the only club interested in Keir this summer, but after some deliberation with his family he plumped for a move to the Highland capital.

He said: “I was pretty close to going somewhere else, but then I got a call saying that Caley Thistle had put in a bid.

“When I heard that I knew this was where I wanted to go because of how big the club is and the ambitions they’ve got.

“Over the summer I’ve had a lot of people speaking to me and asking me where I was going.

“After a while it got a bit annoying, but it’s good that people are interested.

“My family gave me advice which I took on board and my brother Lyall plays football as well and has just moved to Peterhead.

“I spoke to him about it a lot and I felt Inverness was the best option for me.

“My time at Turriff was really good and everyone there was really good with me.

“I was given a chance straight away and I scored and it all just spiralled from there.

“We had a really good season last season and as much I was excited to come to Inverness, I was also sad to leave Turriff because I enjoyed it there.”

[Source: Press and Journal]