Miller confident of scoring at 'jinx' ground Celtic Park

THE odds of 10-1 available on a Kenny Miller hat-trick at Parkhead this afternoon may appear fairly miserly at first glance, set against the Celtic striker's barren run of goalscoring form so far this season.

Given football's enduring capacity for producing circumstances of the 'you couldn't make it up' variety, however, the bookmakers are perhaps wise to insure themselves against Miller running riot at the expense of the Faroe Islands in Scotland's opening Euro 2008 qualifier.

Without a goal in 13 appearances for the Scottish champions, albeit only five of them competitive fixtures, Miller retains the unshakeable faith of Scotland manager Walter Smith on the basis of his recent track record for the international team which has seen him score five goals in his last six outings.

If the 26-year-old's difficult start to his Celtic career is troubling him in any way, he betrayed no evidence of it yesterday as he faced the press in bullish and upbeat mood.

Miller fully appreciates the potential irony of breaking his Celtic Park duck while wearing dark blue, rather than green and white hoops, but insists he is unconcerned by his failure to bulge the net yet.

Asked if it was a positive factor that today's match is being staged at his club home, he said wryly: "No. It's a bit of a jinx, that ground, I think. I'd rather be at Hampden. To be honest, it doesn't mean anything where the game is played. I don't care where or how my first goal of the season goes in, as long as it goes in soon. If I score on Saturday, brilliant. If not, then I'll just look to the next game because I know it will come soon enough.

"I don't feel I've been playing badly, but obviously in terms of goals there haven't been any so far. Last season, I opened my account for the national team (against Austria) before I scored for my club (Wolves), so hopefully I can do the same this year.

"I want to score goals for Celtic, but I'm not worried about it at the moment. I watch football all the time and I see other strikers missing, but they are maybe getting three or four chances in a game. If I was missing three or four chances in every game, then I would be really worried.

"At the moment, people see me have a shot from 25 yards and say 'oh, he's missed again'. That's not a real chance. I've had maybe two or three really clear chances since I joined Celtic. I know the goals will come, though, because I've been through this before. I'm sure I will come good, hopefully on Saturday."

Miller is grateful for the support he has received from Smith, who named him as a certain starter on the day the squad was announced, but believes he has earned the right to remain Scotland's first pick front man despite his present goal drought.

"I join up with the squad expecting to play, to be honest," said Miller. "It's good to have the manager behind you and he's happy with the way things have gone for the team and for me personally since he came in.

"The way the team has shaped up under Walter, I've been up there on my own a lot of times with support coming from deeper areas and I've enjoyed it.

"I think I've done well and put some good performances in. Since Walter came in, I've got a pretty good goals ratio too."

There will be no lone striker role for Miller today and while he believes he could forge a profitable long-term partnership with Kris Boyd, he hinted yesterday that the Rangers man may have to settle for a place on the bench this afternoon.

"That's something we'll find out in time, if Kris and I get the chance to play up front together," he said. "There are other lads who fit the bill at the moment, like big Garry O'Connor who is in the same mould as Kris, and James McFadden who brings us something different again. If I was to play up front with Kris, though, I think it could work."

Miller happily concedes the onus is on Scotland to deliver a convincing win this afternoon, entertaining no thoughts of simply settling for three points in any circumstances.

"I think it's important we do get a right good score," he said. "A 1-0 is not what we are looking for.The 6-0 defeat they suffered against Georgia last month is going to make them even more defensive against us, but we have to get a good bit of daylight between us and them."

STEPHEN HALLIDAY

Taken from the Scotsman