Miller was born in Manchester, Greater Manchester and was raised in the Moston destrict of the city. He signed professionally with Manchester City at the beginning of the 2005–06 season, and featured in a number of pre-season games for the first team. A number of impressive displays for the reserve team led to a competitive first team début, as a substitute in a Premier League match against Wigan Athletic on 18 March 2006. Miller made no further first team appearances that season, but was leading goalscorer for the reserves.