Rangers striker Kenny Miller believes Nathan Oduwa will benefit from the rough kicking of Scottish football

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In the search of first-team football the 19-year-old Kenny Miller had a choice. He could mull around Hibernian playing for the stiffs in an under-21 league devoid of crowds, meaning or competitive edge.

Or he could accept the certainty of a kicking by going on loan to Stenhousemuir in Scotland’s rough, agricultural Division Three. He chose the kicking.

‘For me, playing any kind of level of first-team football is better than playing for youth teams, academy or reserves,’ said the old head of the Rangers dressing room.

Nathan Oduwa has been subjected to rough challenges during his short time in Scottish football so far 

‘I went to Stenhousemuir and played in the Third Division and learning-wise, I came on leaps and bounds. Just by playing first-team football.’

Under the protective veil offered by Terry Christie’s renowned duffel coat he scored 10 goals in 13 games.

‘We ended up getting promoted in my season at Stenhousemuir,’ he recalled. ‘You’ ve played your part in it and it’s your first taste of it.

‘I’d had a wee taste of first-team football with Hibs but I was back in the reserves and I wanted to play first-team football and fortunately enough I got the chance to do it with Terry Christie at Stenhousemuir.’

Oduwa lies prone on the turf after being injured by a heavy challenge by Livingston's Jackson Longridge

All of this is pertinent. It has a point.

This week the value of Nathan Oduwa’s loan spell with Rangers in the Scottish Championship has been called into question.

A Tottenham representative was in the Bill Struth stand at Ibrox when Livingston’s Kieran Gibbons slid in, studs high, on the winger in the first minute of the match. 

The tackle went unpunished by referee Andrew Dallas and there were more to follow.

Mark Warburton is dismissive of the idea Spurs might think twice about the value of the loan deal. It’s doubtful they could anyway.

Rangers veteran striker Kenny Miller believes Oduwa will benefit in long-term from exposure to rough tactics

At Stenhousemuir, Miller took his share of kicks and felt better for it. Learning in the school of hard knocks was preferable to six months of academy torpor.

‘I wasn’t quite the flair player that Nathan is but I was the young whippersnapper at the time and people tried to give me the treatment,’ Miller said. 

‘That’s part and parcel of growing up and learning your trade.

‘A few of them were handing it out and I was a young lad built like a toothpick, just buzzing about and a few senior pros were trying to put me in my place. It’s all part of becoming the player I am.’

Criticised for a piece of skill which brought accusations of ‘showboating’ against Alloa early in his Rangers loan spell, Oduwa has found himself at the heart of another storm. 

Scottish football, you sense, has been a shock to the system.

‘I think it was initially,’ Miller agreed. ‘I think he was shocked at the attention his ‘rainbow-flick’ received in the first game. 

Nicky Law, Oduwa and Lee Wallace speak with referee Andrew Dallas during the match with Livingston

'But the manager and Davie (Weir) are trying to explain to him that he’s in the goldfish bowl of Glasgow and that’s the kind of attention that this club receives.

‘He’s part of this club now and needs to behave accordingly. I’ve read the manager say we don’t want to take that part of his game away from him, but I think that week he was a bit shocked.

‘He’s a good lad and he doesn’t moan too much about the treatment he receives. It doesn’t stop him going at his full back the next time.’

The oldest head in the Rangers dressing room by some distance, Miller has tried to lead by example. When he says he now fills the role once performed by assistant manager David Weir – who played for Rangers until he was 40 – he is only half joking.

The 19-year-old Tottenham youngster has played nine Scottish league games during his loan spell at Ibrox

‘I am well ahead of everybody,’ he laughed. ‘Davie was similar when he was here, he had a good few years on us. Shielsy is 30 so there is a bit of a gap there. 

'I am enjoying the season so far. Would I like a bit more game time? Of course I would. But I am thoroughly enjoying the way things are going at the moment.’

So much so that he would welcome the chance to extend his Rangers contract. In his third spell at Ibrox, his current agreement lapses in the summer. 

Both parties are amenable to talks which could see the former Scotland international back in the Premiership next season.

‘I would love to talk,’ Miller admitted. ‘There is nowhere else I would rather be. I would love to finish here. Whether that happens or not, we will have to wait and see. 

Miller, 35, could be set for a contract extension at the club as he approaches the twilight years of his career

'I am loving it at the moment and I feel I have a job to do this year to make sure we get back to the top flight. It then becomes a new target, which is back to taking the league again.

‘In the last couple of months, I have been doing a bit of coaching work with Durranty and the 20s. It is great to get involved with a good group of boys.

‘I have worked with a lot of managers in my career and you take the positives and the negatives out of every one. There is a lot of things I am learning under the manager and a lot of good stuff that I will definitely be implementing when my time comes.’

That time may not be just yet. Miller remains fit and valuable and Warburton is open to the idea of an extension.

‘At 35, Kenny sets a fantastic example,’ the manager said. ‘He has been there, he has done it and yet every day he is still the best he can be. For the young players, he is magnificent.’

Asked when he would like to initiate talks the Englishman responded: ‘Now. David Weir came here at 35, 36. He came here for three months and five years later he left with a sack full of trophies.

‘For Kenny to see David, it is an important link. He looks after himself, you look at his shape, his body fat, his aerobic fitness levels, they are fantastic. He works hard every day and if he is doing that, if you are good enough, you get picked.’

Miller believes he can replicate David Weir and win trophies and medals in the last years of his playing career