PEDRO Caixinha insists there is no issue with striker Kenny Miller despite dropping him from his first team squad last month.
The 37-year-old was left out of the side that beat Hamilton before the international break following a team meeting in the aftermath of the Old Firm defeat.
Caixinha adopted a ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ stance when quizzed about Miller’s future before the Accies clash. But he has claimed there are no problems between the pair after the forward was sent to play for the Gers’ Under-20 side in a development game at Brentford a fortnight ago.
Caixinha said: “There is no latest situation. It’s just one technical decision.
“Who picks the first eleven? Who picks the squad? Who picks the players who are out of the squad? There is no issue.
“Sometimes I take a decision and I explain directly to the person involved. Other times I don’t explain. And other times I can explain later. I am the one who takes the decision.
“There are no problems at all. Period. Kenny is one of ours. He is training with us and like the others he is there to be selected or not.
“We will have the list of the squad tomorrow. He felt something in today’s session, more or less in the middle of it, but I don’t think it is going to be anything major.
“He just went there (to Brentford) and did OK. He is a top professional. I have nothing to say about Kenny. He gives his maximum all the time here.”
Rangers earned a 4-1 win at the SuperSeal Stadium just hours before Miller helped Graeme Murty’s side to victory over the Bees in a friendly match in London.
The striker returned to the first team fold during the top flight shutdown and found the net during the bounce game with Morton at Auchenhowie over the weekend.
Now Rangers will make the trip to McDiarmid Park as they look to record another crucial Premiership triumph.
Caixinha said: “I said it before the Hamilton match, I said it after the Hamilton match, I said it along the week, I am saying it now.
“Sometimes we used to say that a lie told a lot of times will become true. There is no issue. Period.
“He is one of ours. Who gave him the contract? I gave him the contract so that means I have trust and confidence in him. It is one question of decisions.
“If I have 25 players, some players, if they are not injured or booked or whatever, they need to be out of the squad.
“This week it is going to happen the same. Some players that are not going to be in the squad are going to play against Dundee United here at 2 o’clock on Friday.
“It is my decision as well. I need to manage the group. And once again, who manages the group?”
Rangers head into the Saints fixture tomorrow night six points off the pace in the Premiership after a mixed start to the campaign.
Their tally of 14 points from eight outings is the same as Tommy Wright’s side as they have once again hit the ground running and Caixinha is expecting another tough encounter.
He said: “We need to respect Tommy is doing fantastic work. It is four seasons he is there so it is consistent work, a cycle.
“You can see that the players know each other, they know what to play and our concern is to not allow them to perform the way they want to perform. I think it is two different styles in opposition.
“One style is more about long balls, second balls, second waves of arrivals, fights for the second ball. We want to do the opposite, we want to call the game our way.”
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