KENNY Miller’s plan was to return to Rangers and end his long and distinguished career by helping propel his boyhood heroes back to the forefront of Scottish football.

But, as our national bard Rabbie Burns once famously wrote, the best laid schemes o’ mice and men gang aft agley . . .

What Miller had hoped, and fully expected, would be a glorious end to his playing days at Ibrox turned badly awry last season.

From the opening game of the Championship, when Rangers conceded an injury-time goal to lose 2-1 to Hearts at home, the Gers were playing catch-up.

They fell out of touch with their Tynecastle rivals, who would go on and win the league comfortably, and were soon experiencing off-field problems.

Crowds plummeted due to widespread concern about how the Glasgow institution was being run and disaffection with the standard of play on the park.

Ally McCoist resigned as manager and was placed on gardening leave, Kenny McDowall took over on a temporary basis and then Stuart McCall came in as interim boss.

A wretched campaign ended with an on-field brawl at Fir Park after a 6-1 thrashing by Motherwell in the play-off final which meant promotion was denied.

The 35-year-old could be forgiven for hanging up his boots and going away and enjoying a well-earned retirement in some sunnier clime after such an annus horribilis.

However, the 69-times capped forward hasn’t enjoyed such successful playing days by backing down and admitting defeat when the going got tough.

No, like Robert the Bruce, another great Scottish folk hero, Miller is of a mind to try try try again.

The former Hibs, Wolves, Derby County, Cardiff City man has earned a one year extension to his contract after an appearance clause in his deal was triggered.

He returned to Auchenhowie for the first day of pre-season training on Saturday looking forward to playing a significant role in the league and the cups in the 2015/16 campaign.

The second tier promises to be every bit as demanding as last term despite the absence of Hearts with Falkirk, Hibs, promoted Morton, Queen of the South and relegated St. Mirren all involved.

However, Miller is determined to help Mark Warburton’s side fend off their challenges and land the second tier title in the forthcoming campaign.

There is no lack of focus despite his dream of playing against the likes of Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United in the twilight of his career not – for the time being at least - being realised.

“Clearly I would have much rather Rangers were back playing in the Premiership than in the Championship, but it’s not an issue for me,” he said.

“But if that is what is required, another season in the second tier, to get back to where we want to be then so be it. It’s not a problem for me.”

Miller only netted nine goals in all competitions last season after returning to Rangers for an unprecedented third spell.

But he enjoyed a fine spell of form, like so many of his team mates, up front after McCall replaced McDowall as manager on an interim basis in March.

The Scotland’s sixth top scorer of all-time – he netted 18 times in his 69 international appearances – was as disappointed as any supporter with the quality of play produced.

He will be looking for a stark upturn from both himself and his side when the new campaign gets underway with a Petrofac Training Cup match on July 25.

“We did play well at times last season,” he said. “We had games where we played very well and scored a lot of goals, including against some decent times.

“We scored a fair few goals against good teams like Falkirk, who had a pretty good season and reached the Scottish Cup final, and Raith Rovers.

“But the problem was we didn’t do it enough. We lacked consistency. We played well sporadically. We put together a good performances for a few games and then we immediately let it slide.

“We improved when the new manager came in and got a good 2-0 win away from home against Hibs to get us going again. But at times we didn’t perform as we can. It was disappointing.

“We obviously wanted to win promotion last season, but, as disappointed as we were, it’s important that we don’t get too down about it.”

New manager Warburton has started the rebuilding process after 11 players, including Ian Black, Kris Boyd and captain Lee McCulloch, left when their contracts expired in the summer.

The former Brentford boss, who signed a three year contract earlier this month, has already brought in centre backs Rob Kiernan and Danny Wilson from Wigan and Hearts respectively.

He is also keen on experienced midfielder John Eustace, England Under-20 right back Reece Wabara and Spurs striker Harry Winks.

Miller is hopeful that whoever he is playing alongside Rangers can perform far better in the weeks and months ahead and give supporters the success they crave.

“I could quite understand frustrations getting the better of the fans,” he said. “I was every bit as disappointed as they were at the way things went and shared their unhappiness

“I can only speak for myself, but it was a really frustrating season for me as well as the team. We definitely didn’t reach the level of consistency we would have liked to throughout the season.

“That more than anything must be our objective in the coming weeks. If we can do that then we can challenge.”