Miller (17-1, 3 KOs) hasn’t boxed since he outpointed Lyon Woodstock last August and although he would have preferred to control his own destiny by fighting his way into position, the chips have fallen in his favor over recent months.

Nick Ball hasn’t fought since February when he was stopped in the final round of a WBA world title defense by a resurgent Brandon Figueroa.

Nathaniel Collins missed his own chance to make inroads at world level. The Scotsman was held to a draw by Spain’s Cristobal Lorente in October and six months later lost the WBC final eliminator rematch on points.

The only man to have made any real progress over the past 12 months is Davies. When Miller withdrew from their proposed fight, Davies took apart the solid replacement, Francesco Grandelli, in six very impressive rounds to win the European title.

On September 26, Davies will defend his newly won title against Collins at Birmingham’s bp Pulse LIVE Arena.

Had results gone differently, Miller could have easily found himself stranded on an island. Instead, the 29-year-old from Manchester remains in the thick of the British featherweight mix.

“Those fights all make sense now,” Miller told The Ring.

“If Nick would have gone on and beat Figueroa, then he's in a bit of a different stratosphere. You've got to be real in this world and Nick would have been gone. He'd have been out of reach, so to speak, unless I won a couple more fights.

“The same with Nathaniel. If he'd have beat Cristobal Lorente, he'd have been going fighting Shu-Shu Carrington in America. Then he’s out of reach.

“Then, the only fight that made sense then was me and Liam and that's why it got made. It's just unlucky that I got injured. Fair enough, Liam stayed active and beat Grandelli, but now Nick's been beat and Collins has been beat. All the fights are sensible fights to make.

“It's all in touching distance.”

After a frustrating year, Miller should soon be able to mark a definite date into his diary and get back to business.

With Davies and Collins set to fight and Ball booked in for a return to action before the end of the year, a window has opened for Miller to shake off any rust and get himself back up to speed before getting involved in a meaningful fight before Christmas.

As long as things go to plan, he will immediately target his British rivals.

“I want these by the end of the year,” he said.

“I want to be known in this sport for being in 50-50 massive domestic dust-ups. That's what I want and that's what I've got three names in front of me there for.

“I'm not bad mouthing them. They're all good fighters, but, yes, any of them can get it.”