Rangers will continue to thrive if Miller leaves Ibrox, says Edu

Lisa Gray
Wednesday 12 January 2011 01:00 GMT
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Maurice Edu insists Rangers have already shown they can survive the loss of a top goalscorer and still deliver the goods. And the midfielder believes that will be the case again if Kenny Miller opts to quit the Scottish champions, either this month or when his contract expires in the summer.

Rangers have accepted an offer from Birmingham City and the striker is holding talks with the Midlands club, as well as the Italian Serie A club Fiorentina, with a departure appearing increasingly likely.

Miller has successfully filled the void left by striker Kris Boyd's exit in the summer by scoring 22 goals so far for Rangers, and Edu claims life will go on without him too.

"People were questioning what would happen to the team last season when guys like Kris Boyd left after scoring so many goals for us. This is a similar situation, when the team has to come together and be able to put together complete performances," Edu said. "Kenny has been a big player for us. He has scored a lot of goals for us so far and he has been our go-to guy in terms of scoring goals.

"Whether a player leaves or gets injured, whatever the case may be, it's an opportunity for another player to step in and try to fill that void and step up to the plate and show what he's worth to the team. I don't know what the situation is right now but if Kenny does leave, it's an opportunity for another guy to come in."

Miller was left out of the squad for Monday night's 3-0 Scottish Cup win against Kilmarnock, with the goals shared between Lee McCulloch, Kyle Lafferty and Steven Whittaker.

And Edu is confident the current squad is good enough to chip in with more goals if Rangers are unable to recruit a replacement should Miller seal a move away from Ibrox this month.

"I think we have the personnel where there are guys who can step in and score goals. Kenny would obviously be a big, big loss for us because he has scored quite a few goals for us already this season and he has been our target-man," Edu said.

"But it's just the case of another guy stepping in and wanting to play in that position and putting himself in the position to score goals so that he can be the front-man for us."

Rangers have been rewarded for their efforts against Kilmarnock with a mouth-watering fifth-round tie against Celtic at Ibrox. And Edu was thrilled to remain in the competition.

"It's big for us. At the beginning of the season when you set goals for yourself, competing for the cups is obviously one of our goals. Progressing to the next stage is a positive thing for us," Edu said.

Edu made his return after several weeks away with a knee injury when he came off the bench with just over 20 minutes to go. He added: "The most important thing was for us to get the win. But to come on and get some game-time under my belt, after being out for a while, was definitely good for my confidence. I came through a couple of tackles unscathed and that's another good thing.

"Hopefully everything keeps going in the right direction for me and hopefully I can keep working hard and get back into the team."

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