KENNY MILLER has the opportunity to reach another landmark moment in his illustrious career on Friday night by claiming his 100th goal for Rangers.
The veteran striker will join such greats as Ally McCoist, Derek Johnstone, John Greig and Mark Hateley who are among just 6 men to have hit the century mark since World War II.
And Ibrox legend Hateley would not be surprised to see Miller grab it at the ground where the former Soctland internationalist netted his first Rangers goal in a 4-2 win over Kilmarnock on August 5, 2000 during his first spell with the club.
Read more: Nine Celtic and Rangers youngsters named in Scotland Under-19 squad to face Greece
However, the former Ibrox favourite recognises that winning the match is of paramount importance for Mark Warburton as it would ensure an advantage over Celtic going into the September 10 derby as the champions have played a game less due to their Intercontinental Champions Cup involvement.
Hateley said: “To score 100 goals at any club is very hard so it’s going to be a great milestone for Kenny.
“We have seen in the last two games that there are still goals in Kenny. There he was last Saturday still going strong in injury time at the age of 36 to score the winner.
“It will be a phenomenal achievement when he reaches this target and it wouldn’t surprise me if he hits it on Friday.
“His experience is vital, especially as Mark Warburton is constructing a younger side.
“Whether Kenny starts, comes on or even if he doesn’t play he can still have a big influence on the club in the dressing room.
“There is more competition now with the arrivals of Joe Garner and Joe Dodoo so Mark now has four strikers to choose from with Martyn Waghorn on the way back.
“Kenny will rise to that challenge. He will want to play every game and while he may play less than he did last year he will still have a massive role to play.”
Rangers have struggled in their opening three games, coming back to draw with Hamilton, holding on against Dundee and snatching victory over Motherwell.
Hateley knows they need to click into gear quickly as Celtic are a more formidable force this season following the appointment of Brendan Rodgers as manager.
He said: “Celtic are very strong this year – far stronger than last year as they have a better manager in charge.
“They are the team to catch and the only way to do that is by winning games so the pressure is on.
“Rangers need to win in Kilmarnock to exert a little bit of pressure on Celtic who face Aberdeen the following day.
“But more importantly, it will mean they will go into the Old Firm with a lead and that is a great confidence booster.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel