George Miller: Bradford City loanee wins EFL Young Player of Month award for December

"You don't start something and then jump ship halfway."

George Miller may have signed for Barnsley on deadline day but there is only one focus for him for the remainder of the season - keeping Bradford City in League One.

The 21-year-old forward agreed a permanent move to the Tykes from Middlesbrough, but will not be linking up with them until the summer.

Instead, he will see out the rest of his season-long loan spell with the Bantams, who are third from bottom in the third tier with 15 games remaining.

"We've started it so we've got to finish it now," Miller, the latest recipient of the EFL's Young Player of the Month award, said of Bradford's survival hopes.

"We've got to see it through until the end and hopefully I can put in some good performances personally to get us out of this mess.

"This club deserves to be in this league, if not higher. I want to keep us up and hopefully score some goals along the way."

Miller won December's prize for spearheading Bradford's upturn in form with four goals in all competitions.

"It's a great achievement and a great award," Miller told BBC Sport. "I'm buzzing about it, it's something I've got now and nobody can ever take it away from me.

"To win this is great and gives me a bit of extra confidence."

It has been a difficult season for the Bantams. Michael Collins, the EFL's youngest manager when he was appointed in June, lasted just six league games of the new season before he was sacked.

The club's fourth manager of 2018, ex-Bradford midfielder David Hopkin, struggled initially to turn results around - but December reinvigorated their survival hopes.

Bradford won four of their five games during the Christmas period, scoring 13 goals and conceding only one.

The only blemish in that run was a 1-0 defeat at promotion-chasing Sunderland - a match played in front of more than 46,000 supporters at the Stadium of Light on Boxing Day.

"When I walked out on to the pitch, I thought 'this is what I used to watch on Sky'. It was a great experience," said Miller.

"I wouldn't say it was overwhelming, but for the first five or 10 minutes you're in awe. Then the game gets on and you get settled and get into it."

Miller began his professional career at Bury, getting over the setback of being released by the Shakers as a schoolboy to force his way into the first team.

He played alongside experienced striker Ryan Lowe, now Bury's manager, at Gigg Lane and he remains a strong mentor.

"Ryan was my room-mate and then he ended up being my gaffer," said Miller.

"He took me under his wing because I was his boot boy when I was in the academy and he's always looked after me.

"When I got into the first team and was doing well, he guided me and I still ring him up for advice now. He's been dead good with me."

Miller admits he was "a bit naive" when he joined Middlesbrough in the summer of 2017.

The first-team chances he had anticipated did not arrive - eight minutes in a League Cup tie at Aston Villa were the sum total of his contribution at senior level for Boro.

"I didn't really have a clue, I was a bit wet behind the ears," he said. "A few days later they signed Britt Assombalonga for £15m and I was thinking 'I'm a bit out of my depth here'."

So he was soon back at Bury on loan for the tail end of last season. He scored eight goals, but they were not enough to keep the club in League One and relegation was a tough experience.

With Lowe as manager, the Shakers are in contention for an immediate return to the third tier.

"I watched them on television play against Lincoln recently," said Miller. "They're playing really good football and doing well in the league. Fingers crossed, they get automatic promotion this season."