LEE Miller was just a bairn when he tore Scottish second tier defences to shreds back in 2002-03, plundering 19 goals as Falkirk stormed their way to the old first division title. But the one thing he couldn't cut his way through was red tape.

The club were prevented from achieving promotion as Brockville was deemed non-compliant with SPL rules on stadium criteria, regulations which were derided at the time and don't look any better with hindsight. Now back at his first club, benefitting at a state-of-the art modern stadium even though the stadia rules have been quietly dropped, Miller's career will have come full circle if he can drive them back to the top flight this summer. And at least this time he knows for sure it is only Hibs and Kilmarnock who stand in his way.

"That was a crazy situation to be involved in," said Miller. "Myself and Mark Kerr were involved in that and it was just such an anti-climax because I would have loved to have seen Brockville in the top flight. The atmosphere created in that place was second to none. As the game against Hearts when we blew them off the park in the first half an hour [a 4-0 Scottish Cup win in January 2003] showed, it was a cracking place to play our football and the pitch was always in great nick.

"I was just a young lad at that time, I didn't really appreciate what was happening to be honest," he added. "I was just a happy-go-lucky, tall, skinny guy. So it was a whirlwind in terms of coming in and being involved in the first team, with Owen Coyle, Collin Samuel, and Yogi [John Hughes] in there. It was a great mix of older lads to keep us younger lads in check.

"But we have everything in place now and it would be massive to get back there with the club I started my career with. It would be tremendous, a fitting way to come to the tail end of my career. I haven't really thought about whether this will be my last club to be honest, if it was it would be great to finish it here. But I think I have still got a good few years left in me. I have never had pace so I have never lost any!"

Since leaving Falkirk, Miller's has been an itinerant career and it would be ironic indeed if the play-off system pitted him against Kilmarnock, the club where he spent last season, in a do-or-die showdown for premiership status. Back in May 2010, it was also the Rugby Park club, under the charge of Jimmy Calderwood, who last relegated Falkirk - not long after Bairns manager Steven Pressley had made the mistake of guaranteeing their survival.

First, though, Falkirk have to take care of Hibs, no easy feat considering the two sides were separated by just two goals after a season's play, and the Easter Road club have won one and drawn three of their meetings this term. While John Baird has been the club's main striker this season, it would certainly cap quite a year for Miller, who began the season without a club, simply benefitting from first-team training at Livingston. While this week saw the West Lothian club lose out through the playoffs and drop to League One, Miller, by contrast, recently signed a new deal at Falkirk and could serve it in the top flight.

"It is ridiculous if you turn back the clock and look at where I was last season," said Miller. "It was a strange summer, just trying to keep my fitness going and I was thankful to Mark Burchill to let me in and train with them. It has been a whirlwind of a season, I can tell you that."

Falkirk and Hibs are the closest of rivals, with verbals between Peter Houston and Alan Stubbs in the respective technical areas and even a few things said on the pitch in the heat of battle. Miller laughs off the fact Falkirk were castigated for over-celebrating after fighting back to earn a crucial 2-2 draw with ten men at Easter Road, while there has been a bit of to and fro since then on Twitter about how they had proved they were 'big game players'.

"It adds to the spice, of course of it does," said Miller. "It is all good banter, it is a game and you have got to do what you do to win the game. Whether it is winding people up, if you dish it out you have got to be able to take it. But at the end of the day we shake hands and get on with it. We have after all four of the games we have played this season."

The play-offs haven't always been kind to Miller. Twelve months after being prevented from promotion with Falkirk, he was going down in a playoff final at the Millennium Stadium with Bristol City against Brighton. "I hadn't played in the games leading up to it but we had a few injuries I got thrown in at the deep end and we got beaten 1-0," said Miller. "It was a real eye opener to be honest but I never want that to happen again."