Kenny Miller remains convinced that Rangers will beat Celtic this season

KENNY MILLER is convinced Rangers will beat Celtic this season.

The veteran striker was kicking himself after missing a great chance to hit an equalising goal near the end of yesterday’s Old Firm clash.

He admitted it’s an opportunity that will haunt him for some time.

Miller believes a goal at that point could have inspired the Ibrox side to grab a late winner.

He said: “Of course we can beat Celtic this season, there’s no doubt about that.

“They’ve won 15 games on the bounce, it’s an unbelievable run at any level.

“But we had a real opportunity to beat them, especially when we were 1-0 ahead. In that part of the game, I felt as comfy as you possibly can in an Old Firm game.

“I’ll replay that miss over in my head, it’s effectively cost us a point.

“I know Celtic had chances. But I felt, if that had gone in, it would have got the whole place rocking and who knows what might have happened after that?”

The 37-year-old shot Rangers into an early lead but the joy of that goal was massively overshadowed by his miss.

He went on: “It’s very tough to take.

“I’ll be looking back wondering what went wrong with it.

“I didn’t make great contact with the shot, it was more off my heel rather than the inside of my foot.

“Sometimes you see those creep into the far corner but it wasn’t great for me.

“I’m really disappointed with it. It should have been 2-2.

“It was a fantastic move. Barrie McKay was superb today, he was a real threat.

“He ghosted past two Celtic players before releasing Andy Halliday. His pass was inch-perfect but off my heel, it skewed a bit wider and, unfortunately, hit the post.”

Miller’s view was that Demble’s equaliser swung the match in Celtic’s favour.

He said: “I’m gutted for the fans, and the manager, because we put a lot into it but came away with nothing.

“We’ve lost a very proud record at Ibrox of 15 months unbeaten.

“We didn’t want to give it up and, the way we started, we felt comfortable.

“If we’d got a second it would have been a real body blow to them.

“So we’re disappointed to lose the goal in the way we did.

“The equaliser definitely had an effect on us. Maybe that was the turning point in the game.

“They’ve got good players who are clever. They maximise space and their movement is terrific.

“But we were coping with it, nullifying the threat as much as we could.

“I felt the game at Hampden in the League Cup was nip and tuck as well. We had a chance to lead in that game, too.

“But goals change games. I’m not sure how it looked, but when we scored I felt we were the team on the up.”

Miller now wants Rangers to concentrate on improving their performances.

He said: “It’s disappointing on a lot of fronts but the fans were outstanding and we’ll never take that support for granted.

“Our keeper made two or three really good saves towards the end but Craig Gordon had a couple to make as well, particularly from Danny Wilson’s header.

“We’ll have a look at where we’ve been good and, hopefully, come back stronger.”