Lennon has his sights on Miller move this summer

NEIL LENNON has confirmed his interest in taking Rangers striker Kenny Miller to Easter Road, as exclusively revealed by Sportsmail.

With Miller set to leave Ibrox pending an investigation into his conduct, we reported yesterday that the Hibernian boss is preparing to offer the 38-year-old striker an escape route to his first club this summer.

‘I was interested in him at the start of the season but he decided to stay on and there was a slight chance in January again before the injury,’ said Lennon yesterday.

‘So maybe it is something I may pursue again in the summer, but it is not at the top of my agenda at the minute.

‘The only thing is his age but Kenny has looked after himself brilliantly and has had an incredible career.

‘He is a good pro and that is why he is still playing at the level he is playing at, because he has looked after himself so well.

‘He still has that football intelligence.

‘Kenny’s a winner. He’s 38 and still very fit. That is testament to being a very good professional — not someone who chucks in the towel.’

Miller and Rangers captain Lee Wallace have been banished from Ibrox and the Auchenhowie training ground while investigations continue into a dressing-room row with manager Graeme Murty after the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic at Hampden.

With one year to run on his deal, 30-year-old defender Wallace’s future remains unclear but Miller, whose contract expires at the end of this season, has almost certainly played his last game for the club. Those presently criticising Miller will point to other matters on his charge sheet. Frozen out by Murty’s predecessor Pedro Caixinha last September, the veteran forward had to suffer the indignity of playing for the development squad at Brentford for apparently crossing the Portuguese head coach’s path.

But as Lennon weighs up tabling a deal for the man who was a team-mate at Celtic for one season First again: yesterday’s Sportsmail in the mid-2000s, he maintained that such alleged acts of insurrection are matters of complete indifference for him.

‘I don’t know what he (Miller) has done or what has been said,’ added Lennon.

‘Sometimes you want a voice in the dressing room. He is hurting and that is why I think it has been blown out of proportion. Maybe it has been a build-up of things.

‘He has an opinion but he has never been a bad professional. He has never disrespected anyone that I have come across. People who have worked with him have always spoken very highly of him.’

If Miller was to take up Lennon’s offer — and Motherwell are also thought to be interested in his services — it would be his second spell with the Easter Road club where he kick-started his career back in 1998.

Currently in his third spell with Rangers, the former Scotland international has also played for Wolves, Derby County, Bursaspor, Cardiff City and Vancouver Whitecaps during a long and varied career.

Prior to last Sunday’s 4-0 defeat to Celtic — during which Miller remained on the bench — he intimated a desire to keep playing, whether it was at Ibrox or elsewhere.

Lennon revamped his Hibs strikeforce in January, bringing in Jamie Maclaren and Florian Kamberi on loan from Darmstadt and Grasshoppers respectively after axing Anthony Stokes and sending Simon Murray on loan to Dundee.

However, the duo’s services have not been secured beyond the summer, which could leave a gap for 69-times-capped Miller.