Miller keen to play on until he's 40

Kenny Miller reckons he can play on into his 40s - but admits he does not know if he will still be at Rangers by then.

The veteran striker, who turns 37 two days before Christmas, has arguably been the Ibrox side's most impressive performer this term.

However, the former Scotland frontman - whose contract expires next summer - confirmed he has yet to be offered fresh terms by boss Mark Warburton despite featuring in 23 of the club's 24 games so far this term.

Miller is not ready to consider retirement just yet and would be more than willing to sign on again for a club he has served for six years over three different spells.

But he confessed he could end up finishing his career away from Govan if Gers decide not to put another deal on the table.

Asked if the Light Blues has opened talks on his future, Miller said: "No not yet. That is something we will cross when it comes to it. I'd love to sign on again but these kind of things are out of my hand.

"However, I've got no plans on slowing down. I feel pretty good at the moment.

"Is 40 a realistic target? Well it's only three years away now so it's definitely on the horizon.

"As long as I still feel like this then why not?

"I've been playing a lot of games which is great. I still feel I'm contributing and as long as I keep doing what I'm doing then hopefully I'll have a year or two - or three or four - left in the tank yet.

"I want to be here. I enjoy working with the gaffer and Davie Weir but for me it's about staying fit and healthy and performing.''

Miller proved old dogs can learn new tricks last week when he slotted in to an unfamiliar midfield role during his side's 2-1 win over Aberdeen.

It was a result which fired a renewed sense of belief into Rangers after a testing start to the campaign and they followed it up with Saturday's 2-0 success at home to Hearts.

Having lost to both the Dons and the Jambos earlier this campaign, Miller now wants to seek revenge against the only other team to have beaten them so far this term - Celtic.

"We've played Hearts, Aberdeen and Celtic all away from home during the first part of the season and lost to them,'' said Miller, who joined the rest of the Gers squad during their annual visit to Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Children, where the club also handed over a £10,000 donation.

"Now we've put two right by winning at home and we've got Celtic at our place in a few games' time on Hogmanay and that's another opportunity too.

"We're building a bit of momentum now.''

Warburton has decided to relax his strict passing philosophy since losing to Hearts in Gorgie two weeks ago, finally allowing his players to make use of striker Joe Garner's aerial ability.

But Miller insists going direct has merely allowed Gers a platform to show they can still play with style.

He said: "When you get beat you either moan about it or you learn from it. We've looked at the game at Tynecastle and definitely learned from it.

"We will never stray from our principles but when you are forced to go down a different road you have to find a solution. We've done that in the last two games.

"We've had to go a little bit more direct but once we did that you could see what we were about in terms of passing, moving and creating chances, which was fantastic.''

Winger Barrie McKay claimed at the weekend Rangers have not given up hope of reining in runaway leaders Celtic, despite Brendan Rodgers' rampant Hoops boasting an eight-point lead and three games in hand. But Miller offered a more cautious view, saying:

"There's a long, long way to go.

"I read what Barrie said over the weekend and I agree, we will never give in until it's done. But for us it's about finding that consistent form and putting a run together.

"If that happens, then you never know.

"You need to put a run of wins together if we want to close this gap on Celtic to as little as possible.

"That's what the aim is and if we're going to do that we need to start winning a lot of games and that starts on Friday against Hamilton. We want to get our first set of three straight wins this season and before the Celtic game we'd like to go in with five.''