Kenny Miller tells Rangers to push through to the end of the season
Kenny Miller has urged his Rangers team-mates to fight to the line even if their days at Ibrox are numbered.
Kenny Miller has urged his Rangers team-mates to fight to the line even if their days at Ibrox are numbered.
Boss Pedro Caixinha is currently in the process of spelling out to his players which of them have a future with the club next season.
Three players - which are thought to include defenders Clint Hill and Philippe Senderos - have been told they are free to leave this summer and more could follow next week.
But the Portuguese coach still has three games to negotiate before the end of a season to forget, with a mounting injury list too.
And veteran frontman Miller admits his side cannot afford passengers as they gear up for Saturday's clash with Hearts.
He said: "For me it comes down to the individual and your own personal pride. If you want to put the tools away and go on holiday you'll do that.
"If you want to stay and fight for the cause because it's your job and you have a personal pride, then you'll do that instead.
"I think that's just down to each character and I'm hoping that in our dressing room we have lads who are thinking, 'Let's just get to the end of the season, fight, work hard and get three wins'.
"That would be the attitude we would be looking for."
Rangers' injury concerns have deepened again this week after it was confirmed Danny Wilson will miss the remainder of the season with a knee problem.
On-loan pair Emerson Hyndman and Jon Toral have also returned to parent clubs Bournemouth and Arsenal early after picking up knocks, with skipper Lee Wallace leading a casualty list that already includes defenders Lee Hodson, Rob Kiernan and Senderos and midfield duo Niko Kranjcar and Jordan Rossiter.
With numbers thin Miller has had to slot in to a midfield role in recent weeks but he has continued to lead by example after setting up Joe Garner for the Light Blues' last-gasp winner against Partick last weekend.
The 37-year-old acknowledged some of his team-mates may have to play out of position when the Jambos visit Ibrox but he told them to grit their teeth and get on with it.
"The team selections over the last few weeks have shown we are down to the bones with a lot of lads having to fill in different positions which is not ideal," he said.
"We have three games to go and sometimes you just have roll the sleeves up and get on with the job in hand.
"You can go and work hard, stop your opponent from having a good game and if you can win games like we did last week by sometimes not playing so well then they can be even sweeter when things go your way."
Gers are still reeling from their humiliating 5-1 drubbing by Celtic two weeks ago.
They will return to the scene of the crime this weekend for the first time as Ian Cathro's side visit Glasgow but Miller admits even victory will not wash away the hurt of a record derby defeat at Ibrox.
He said: "That Celtic result is not going to be made up by winning Saturday's game. It was a really disappointing result.
"It really hurt the players losing at home in front of your owns fans but again it will be a really tough game on Saturday, so it will be up to us to make sure we're ready and put on a performance the fans are happy with, that they can relate to and ultimately win the game."