A rare Saturday afternoon that didn't involve friends, Hearts or hangovers presented the opportunity for this writer to take in a Scottish Premiership encounter this past weekend.

Hibernian against St Mirren was seriously considered. After all, Hibs are in a permanent state of being seconds away from catastrophe and the possibility of indulging in some schadenfreude as the match at Easter Road played out was mighty tempting. But in the end I opted for the game at Fir Park between Motherwell and St Johnstone and I did so for one reason – Lennon Miller.

Scottish football fans need to enjoy this lad while he's still here because, unless Celtic decide they want another centre-midfielder or Rangers aim for another £17million annual loss, he isn't going to be around for much longer. He's simply too good.

Miller's ascension over the past couple of years has been incredible. Having made his first-team debut at 16 (and six days!), the week before last he led out the side as captain for their Scottish League Cup semi-final meeting with Rangers. At only 18 he is already, undoubtedly, Motherwell's best player and one of the premier talents in the Scottish top-flight.

Last season he lost out on the Young Player of the Year award, both the players’ and writers’, to Kilmarnock midfielder David Watson. If the season were to end now there would be no contest, Miller would be the winner. And that's not a slight on Watson who is another excellent young talent continuing his progression in a competitive Kilmarnock engine room. Miller is just on another level right now.

He plays the game with a poise and understanding which is rare for someone so young. He's got terrific technique, can spot (and execute) just about any pass there is, and already has the characteristics of a leader. Watching him against St Johnstone in Saturday's 2-1 victory, something which stood out was the manner in which he issued instructions to his more experienced team-mates on where they needed to go with possession.

It wasn't his best performance of the season. He was a little quiet in the first period and then his passing got a bit wayward around the midway point of the second half, but he still made a telling contribution to the final score, winning back possession and feeding it forward in the build-up to Tom Sparrow's goal, which ultimately proved to be the winner. And it was still a showing which demonstrated a maturity beyond his years.

He was back in a more comfortable position in the centre of the park against the Saints having been used as one of Motherwell's No.10s in Kettlewell's largely preferred 3-4-3 for most of this campaign so far. At times it has felt like something of a cynical move from the club: move him further forward so he scores more goals and his value increases. There have been games, like the away defeat to Aberdeen, when Motherwell's performance improved dramatically after Miller was shifted from a more advanced position back into the heart of the action. There he can see more of the game ahead of him, which plays to his visionary strengths. He’s still to fully adjust to playing the game with his back to goal.

All that said, his performances further forward have improved as the season has gone on and the advanced statistics would suggest the move has been a success for both player and club. Prior to Saturday's match, he had the fourth best Expected Assists (xA) per 90 minutes for any centre midfielder in the Scottish Premiership so far this term, behind only Arne Engels and Luke McCowan of Celtic and Aberdeen's playmaker Jamie McGrath. He's also got the fourth highest Expected Goals (xG) per 90 minutes, again behind Engels and McCowan and Rangers' goalscoring No.10 Tom Lawrence. He's unlucky not to have got more than the three goals he's managed so far, ranking high for both shots taken and percentage of shots on target. The moment against Celtic where he twice hit the woodwork in the space of a few seconds demonstrated some of the misfortune he's experienced in front of goal.

Fans were up in arms last week when Miller wasn't included in the Scotland squad for the upcoming Nations League matches against Croatia and Poland, believing him (correctly) to already be good enough to earn such distinction. The incredulity was compounded further when it emerged he had been named in the under-19s squad instead. However, what supporters don't know is that Miller himself played a significant part in that decision, wanting to be included with the under-19s so he could get more minutes and experience under his belt. It suggests a humble head on his shoulders.

The expectation is that somebody will come in with a big money offer in the January window. If that doesn't transpire in what is historically an unpredictable month for transfers, barring major injury or a catastrophic loss of form then he'll go next summer for a big money move. The worry is that he'll end up somewhere which will stunt his development, but Miller is insistent that wherever he goes next he wants to be playing football every week, not learning his trade well down the pecking order at some EPL club. Should an offer arrive from one of the biggest clubs down south then it may be a different story, as that's always going to be hard to turn down, but you would hope he'd instead look to follow the trend set by many of his countrymen and go to Italy if there's interest. Serie A has a style of play which very much suits his strengths and would mask arguably his biggest weakness, which is a lack of quickness.

Regardless, the future is very bright, both for the player and his country. The current crop of Scottish national team stars are getting on in years and we’re beginning to look to the next generation to handle the baton. Miller is one of those and helps to suggest that the outlook is indeed positive.