Rangers need Miller to stay, says Davis

(PA)

Steven Davis has urged Kenny Miller to wait until the end of the season if he is determined to quit Rangers.

Miller is out of contract in the summer and has so far failed to agree a new deal with the Scottish champions. He has already been linked with a move to Turkey with Champions League opponents Bursaspor, as well as a return south of the border.

The 31-year-old is enjoying his most successful campaign for Rangers, netting an impressive 22 goals so far this season, and Davis has little doubt about the importance of the striker to their title hopes.

"Worst-case scenario, he has to stay until the end of the season for us," midfielder Davis said. "If he decides it's right for him to move on after that, then that's his choice. For us, as a team, with the amount of goals he has scored and the form he has been in, it's imperative that we keep him at the club until the end of the season at least."

Davis believes Miller would ideally like to remain in Glasgow but, having witnessed the departures of Kris Boyd and Nacho Novo last summer, is unsure what decision the forward will make.

"I hope he stays," he added. "We've seen it with a couple of players over the last couple of seasons, like Boydy and Nacho. Unfortunately, the club hasn't been able to offer them deals that they maybe would have liked. That's down to each player personally but I think ultimately Kenny would like to stay and he has enjoyed his time here."

Rangers' scheduled game against St Johnstone tonight fell victim to the weather, denying them the opportunity to build on their 4-1 win at Motherwell ahead of Sunday's Old Firm derby. Davis said: "We were really looking forward to the St Johnstone game, especially after the result and performance against Motherwell the other day. It was really positive and we would have headed into the St Johnstone game with confidence.

"But unfortunately that's the cards that have been dealt to us and we just have to deal with it and look ahead to the Old Firm game now."

Rangers have also had games against Hearts, St Mirren and Dundee United called off, but Davis insists he has no real concerns about a crippling fixture backlog just yet.

"Not really at this stage," he said. "We don't know yet when the games will be re-arranged and we also have European games after the new year as well. It's all to look forward to. Players would rather be playing games than training anyway but it will still be a big ask with the amount of fixtures that we have."