MARK WARBURTON has urged his Rangers fringe stars to follow Kenny Miller’s example as they bid to earn a starting spot against Celtic.

The striker netted his 100th goal for the Gers in the win over Inverness on Friday night and is in line to feature in the Betfred Cup semi-final at Hampden.

Miller has made 14 appearances for the Light Blues this term and boss Warburton is delighted with his contribution on and off the park.

He said: “I used the example to a couple of boys of Kenny Miller.

“Before the previous Celtic game, we played Linfield on the Saturday in a friendly and here is a player at 36, nearly 37 years of age, who scored four goals and worked his socks off for the 75 minutes he was on the pitch.

“He basically said ‘pick me’. That is how I described it to a couple of players.

“His performance said very clearly ‘you cannot leave me out’.

“With all Kenny has done, with his CV, with the clubs he has played for, the international caps, all his achievements, his desire to play is stronger than ever.

“That has to be matched by every single player in the squad. Their work ethic and commitment has been outstanding.

“But he sets an example, he sets a tone in terms of saying ‘I want to play in that game and that is the way it has to be week in week out.”

Rangers head to Hampden determined to make amends for their 5-1 Old Firm defeat at Parkhead last month and book a final berth.

And Warburton reckons his side have made progress in the weeks since their last meeting with their Old Firm foes.

“We had Josh, we had Joe, we had Philippe, a number of new players, coming into the side and making debuts,” he told RangersTV.

“We have moved on. We have gelled as a squad, we are getting better.

“It is early days, we are nine games in to the league season but it is taking shape and our performance level has improved dramatically in the last four, five weeks.”