Pedro Caixinha insists Kenny Miller is still 'one of ours'

Caixinha revealed Miller had responded well to his omission from the squad which won 4-1 against Hamilton before the international break.

The Portuguese coach had refused to discuss whether Miller's absence was related to reports of a heated team meeting after Celtic's 2-0 win at Ibrox.

Miller will have to wait to see if he is included in the squad for Friday's Ladbrokes Premiership encounter against St Johnstone, although he has a minor fitness concern too.

Caixinha said at his pre-match media conference: "Kenny is one of our players from the squad like all the others. All of them have the same respect and behaviour from our side.

"But I'm the manager. I decide the players who will start the game, I decide the players that are going to be in the squad, and I also decide the players who will be out of the squad. Kenny is definitely one of ours and, like all the others, it depends on my decision."

When asked how Miller had responded to his omission, Caixinha said: "With full respect. He's a senior player, he understands things.

"We spoke, we clarify everything regarding those decisions, because sometimes it's important for you to justify the decisions. Other times I don't have to justify anything. But we clarified everything and, as I told you, he's one of ours."

When asked whether he would be in the squad for the Perth clash, the Rangers manager said: "We still have training tomorrow (Thursday). To be honest, he felt something today in training. I don't think it's going to be anything major.

"Tomorrow we will have the squad and we will see if he's on the list or not. We have more options now and Kenny is one of ours. It's my decision if he will be on the list or not.

Meanwhile, Caixinha added further spice to Friday's game by claiming he would change his training times to stop St Johnstone getting inside information on his team.

When asked what he expected from St Johnstone, he said: "First of all I expect them not to train after we train tomorrow. Why am I telling you that? Because I know last season, in the last match, we train at 10 and they train at 12, knowing already our first XI.''

Saints striker Steven MacLean had earlier accused Caixinha of trying to wind up Saints by comparing their formation and style with Ladbrokes Championship club Morton, whom Rangers played in a training-ground game last weekend.

Caixinha responded: "If I cannot say one team plays with the same formation and the same style of game, I cannot say anything. I don't care about it.'

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