We would hate it if we were the ones who let Hibs end the curse

WHEN Kenny Miller left Hibernian in June 2000, their seemingly interminable Scottish Cup barren spell stood just shy of a century.

He has watched from afar ever since, as the numbers have ticked upwards. Each fresh failure brought further scorn from their rivals and increased the pressure to finally end this most talked-about wait in Scottish football.

In the unlikely event of anyone having forgotten, it now stands at 114 years. And counting, if Miller has his way.

A week today, the 36-year-old will help spearhead Rangers as they seek to secure a third trophy of a successful promotion campaign.

Standing in their way at Hampden will, of course, be opponents from Easter Road utterly desperate to attain legendary status.

For Mark Warburton’s side, there are clear aims of their own. A first major cup for the club since 2011 and a passport into next season’s Europa League.

That brings all the motivation anyone at Ibrox might need. But is Miller also conscious of not entering history as the team that finally allowed Hibs to get their hands on the nation’s oldest piece of silverware?

‘Very,’ he smiled. ‘That’s something that will continue for years to come if they don’t win it.

‘They have been in a couple of Finals over the last few years. Whether they have been unlucky, unfortunate, haven’t performed, whatever it is, they still haven’t managed to put it to bed.

‘We don’t want to be the team that goes down in history as the one Hibs have won it against.

‘But it is a minor issue going into it. We will be prepared and focused on what we need to do and, if we do what we can do, we will have enough to win the Cup.’ An Edinburgh boy, Miller came through the ranks at Hibs (left). He played in the first team for two years until a £2million transfer in 2000 began the first of three spells with Rangers. During his period in Leith, the Scottish Cup always loomed mournfully in the background. ‘We got to the semifinal and got beaten by Aberdeen in my last year at Hibs,’ recalled Miller.

‘It was definitely something that, while I wouldn’t say bothered you, it was always in your head when Scottish Cup games came about, especially the latter stages.

‘For us, it is something I don’t need to worry about. We can just focus on what we are trying to do and making sure we go about our business in the right way.’

Talk of a jinx only goes so far. Miller totally rejects any idea that Hibs’ history means they will somehow carry the greater burden of expectation next weekend.

‘It is a cup final and, when you are at Rangers and in a cup final, you need to win,’ he insisted. ‘It is as simple as that, as it is with any other game.

‘There is an element of that for them, as well, but it is a cup final and there are huge implications in winning this with European football. It would be a massive achievement.

‘Everything I am saying, they will be saying next week. There is pressure on both sides.’

Not since Nikica Jelavic scored an extra-time winner against Celtic to secure the League Cup five years ago have Rangers won one of the game’s premier trophies.

Descending to the bottom division in 2012 had an obvious impact. But Miller doesn’t believe that should have ruled out the possibility of success.

Now, however, there are signs that Hampden will become a happy place for the club once more. A warm-up win over Peterhead to claim the Petrofac Training Cup was followed by that epic shoot-out success over Celtic in the semi-final.

Yet, for all that every Rangers supporter delighted in that triumph, Miller admits it would feel hollow if it wasn’t now followed by something more tangible.

‘I am in my second year back now but, even prior to that, I am sure the club were still hopeful of going and being successful in the cup competitions,’ said Miller.

‘It is a mindset at this club. We might have been down the leagues, but I don’t think you can change your mindset. You need to aim to win every competition you are in, which everyone does say.

‘But I think it was a realistic goal for us this year and we could go on and just about achieve it.

‘It has been a really good season

I know from my own time at Easter Road that the record is on your mind

for us. We are in the final game of the season, it is the pinnacle of the season and we want to be involved in it. That comes with an added pressure and we need to go and finish the job.

‘There is no point getting to this stage, having the high of beating Celtic, if you don’t go and finish the job. It would definitely put a dampener on the holidays.’

Miller is going for a personal hat-trick. He won the only two previous Scottish Cup Finals in which he has played — with Celtic in 2007 and Rangers in 2009 — but this one would be extra special.

‘If we can finish the job, it will be a huge achievement for everybody involved,’ admitted Miller.

‘As I say, we are in a lower league. To go and win it and achieve European football a year, maybe two years, earlier than what we might have expected would be great.

‘Everything that comes with victory next Saturday would definitely be right up there with the biggest achievements of my career.

‘It is a huge opportunity. Cup finals don’t come around all the time. Sometimes, opportunities to win trophies don’t come around every year. We need to make sure that we approach it correctly.

‘The main goal at the start of the season was to win the Championship and win it well, which we’ve done.

‘The Petrofac Cup was something we needed to put right. We hadn’t won it in the years we’ve been out of the top league, so it was good to get that under our belt as well.

‘It gave a lot of lads in this team their first taste of Hampden — and also a success at Hampden — which is always important.

‘I think we’ll definitely be more comfortable having been there twice in a week over the last month. The lads will be used to it and they’ll know what the atmosphere is going to be like.’

Rangers will enter the game on the back of a 20-day gap since their last competitive fixture in the Championship.

Preparations have, however, been stepped up this week, with a 4-3 win recorded against a Tottenham select in a closed-doors friendly.

‘A week, 10 days, two weeks would probably have been perfect just to give any knocks and niggles a chance to dispel,’ said Miller. ‘You could probably have had a mix of rest and recovery and hard training, as well.

‘This is probably a wee bit too long, but it is what it is. We had a good rest at the start of the month, a right cracking workout the other day down at Spurs, and now it’s a normal week’s preparation.

‘We’ve got a good group. We’ve said all along what the goals were this season, this being one of them. We wanted to finish on a high, winning the Cup, so that doesn’t change.’

KENNY MILLER helped to promote the work of The Rangers Charity Foundation, which has now funded one million vaccines for Unicef to protect some of the world’s most vulnerable children after donating £300,000 over the last three years.