Away win would Tic right boxes for Liam Miller

HIBS midfielder Liam Miller is relishing the prospect of a return to Parkhead on Wednesday night – and plans to derail his old side's title challenge in the process.

The midfielder quit Celtic in 2004 to join Manchester United, however, after stints with Leeds United, Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers, Miller returned to Scotland last summer to join John Hughes' side.

The Irishman signed for the Capital club a fortnight after their first clash with Celtic this season – a 1-0 defeat at Easter Road in August – so he can't wait to face the Hoops for the first time in a Hibs jersey.

He knows Hibs will have to be on the top of their game if they are to come back along the M8 with three points as they face a home side desperate to claw back a large deficit – nine points ahead of today's fixtures – on SPL leaders Rangers.

He said: "It will be a really tough game. You just have to look at the quality they have at their disposal. We know how hard it will be and we really need to play at our best. At the same time, though, we need to concentrate on our own game and do what we can try to get the points on the board."

Speaking of his decision to quit Celtic for Old Trafford and his delight at returning north of the Border with Hibs, Miller continued: "I felt it was the right move for me at the time. I don't regret it, hindsight is a great thing, I suppose, but I made my decision, I stick by it and I am happy here now. I'm delighted to be playing for Hibs and I am looking forward to the game on Wednesday night.

"We will have to be at the top of our game to take something from Celtic Park."

Before their trip to Glasgow, Hibs play host to Hamilton at Easter Road today on the back of a disappointing three-game run which has seen them collect just one point from a possible nine.

Their last outing, a 1-0 defeat to Dundee United at Tannadice, was a source of some frustration for Miller, who conceded that his side had not started to play until the second half got underway.

Miller said: "The second half of our last game, I think that we played well but in the first half we weren't up to our normal performance.

"Overall, we probably haven't been scoring as many goals as we would have hoped but we have just got to keep going and I suppose character comes into it as well now.

"We have just got to take it one game at a time and try to build a run again.

"Dundee United are a big physical side but I thought that we managed to match them in the second half. It wasn't that we couldn't match them physically, it was just a bit of everything. For second balls, we just weren't at the races in the first half.

"Second ball is a big part of football but for some reason we just weren't in control of the game in the first half. In the second half, we played a lot better but we still didn't manage to break them down. We were all disappointed after that game when we sat in the dressing-room after the match. We knew that we hadn't played well but hopefully the Hamilton game will be a chance for us to turn that around.

"There's still a lot of football to be played this season."

Despite their recent struggles, Miller believes Hibs can work their way back up the table and into pole position for a place in the Europa League next season: "We have got a great chance this year. There is a lot of quality in training, the lads are great, we've got scorers in the team and defensively we have been solid. The combination is there, we just have to keep plugging away and see how we fare come the end of the season."