Many Rangers supporters in the Miller-must- be-barracked brigade contend that they can never accept a player who scored against their team in a derby then kissed the Celtic badge; pointed and battered clenched-fist down on the crest to demonstrate his connection to a club he had previously set himself against in Ibrox colours.

Some Celtic's followers, in turn, derive great amusement from so public a declaration of affection for their team from a man who must now maintain it is great to be back at his first Glasgow suitors.

None of which has any basis in what actually happened after Miller scored his first goal for Celtic, and first Old Firm strike, in September 2006. He celebrated simply by repeatedly thumping his left breast with closed hand. No digit and no lips made contact with the Celtic badge, then in the middle of the strip. He wasn't making a comment on his switch of allegiances. He was merely going through a ritual he adopted on the infrequent occasions he scored for the east end of Glasgow club in those early months.

In the two years since, Miller has indisputably become a striker who rarely strikes. The members of the Ibrox faithful who view his £2m move from Derby dimly claim they do so for this fact, rather than a pathological hatred of all things Celtic. Yet, the amiable 29-year-old maintains that these people are not so numerous in number as might be suggested from the catcalls that have accompanied his outings for his new, old, team.

"Off the park and away from football I've not had a single negative reaction from anyone – Rangers fans, stick from Celtic fans, nothing," he said. "I knew there was going to be a bit during games but the support far outweighs the boo boys."

That will change at Celtic Park on Sunday, but not in a way that troubles Miller. "It will change, but there'll be 60,000 there and everyone will be getting booed anyway, not just me. You've got to look forward to it, haven't you?"

If you are the unflappable Miller, it seems even the most invidious predicaments are to be relished. It is difficult to know what he expected of himself, or what Rangers' management team Walter Smith and Ally McCoist expected of the him. So far, he has been the familiar mix of admirable industry and questionable composure whenever his whippet propulsion has given him clear sight of goal. Crucial misses in both legs of the Champions League calamity against Kaunas were so typically him.

Ahead of yesterday's game against Aberdeen, Miller had still to open his Rangers goal account and indeed had netted only 21 goals in 88 senior competitive outings. No fewer than five of these came in Scotland colours. Only a healthy strike-rate will win over a sceptical Rangers support, and there is no evidence to suggest he will be capable of producing that.

Miller missed the opening-day league win at Falkirk with a dead leg. In the Ibrox side's victory over Hearts last week, he came on as a late substitute and immediately posed a threat that he would have translated into something tangible if Lee Wallace hadn't "wiped him out" in the penalty area, and Kris Boyd then hadn't swiped the ball to convert the resultant spot-kick. You would never call the Edinburgh-born forward a lucky player.

"Obviously it would have been great for me to get the penalty, put it away, get the duck broken and kick on," he said of that incident. "But that's not really the point. Making a contribution is. We've had a tough start and we've been winning (in the league]. And we've done it against good teams."

Last Saturday, Rangers triumphed with a right good performance from debutante Pedro Mendes. The Portuguese midfielder's ability to pick passes and split defences with clever balls threaded through gaps might be precisely the ammunition that allows Miller to make a virtue out of his sprints into the box.

No wonder the forward gushes about the recruitment of Mendes in a £3m deal from Portsmouth. A central plank of Smith's £18m-worth of team-rebuilding over the summer, the squad- bolstering will force Miller to tussle with new arrivals Kyle Lafferty and Andrius Velicka, as well as Kris Boyd, DeMarcus Beasley, Nacho Novo, Jean-Claude Darcheville and – if he can't be sold – Daniel Cousin, for attacking roles. Mendes, meanwhile, will keep company with recent acquisitions Maurice Edu and Steven Davis in the middle of the park while centre-back Madjid Bougherra must filled the void left by Carlos Cuellar's departure.

"We have a lot of strikers and everyone offers something different," Miller said. "The manager has also been trying to get that midfielder who can get forward as well and Pedro does the lot. He can come and take the ball, start things off or make breaking runs off the forwards too. That kind of support is great to see when you are up front."

Miller believes Mendes's first game for the club, which the 29-year-old undertook before he had even trained with his team-mates, said everything about the sort of playmaker he will be to a team previously bereft of such a figure.

"His one-touch stuff and his passing were frightening," Miller said. "The ball would come to him and, whereas before it might take a bit of time to get forward, he was popping it round the corner and straight away we were on the attack. That is what opens teams up, gets you beyond the midfield and at the defence. It lets you control a game and he is a big signing for us."

Miller, in contrast, remains a strange signing for Rangers. He can certainly bring pace to their attack, but so too can Beasley and Darcheville. Granted, his enthusiasm and energy levels set him apart from the majority, and his willingness to take the hits, public slayings only to dust himself down and bounce back can only be commended.

Maybe such strength of character will be the driver that finally allows everything to click into place for him while he is giving his all as an Old Firm player.

It is no myth, however, that Miller is the first man in history to be given a third chance to crack it in Glasgow's gladiatorial environment after being twice put to the sword by its demands.