Miller pre-contract deal would concern Walter

The striker was left out of the squad for last night's 3-0 win over Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup, as he and his representative hold talks with both Birmingham and Fiorentina.

Rangers have already accepted an offer from the midlands club but Miller could yet opt to go down the pre-contract route and wait until the summer when his current deal expires before quitting the Scottish champions.

"That would be a difficult issue for anybody, including the player, never mind the club, never mind anything else," said Smith.

"But we are not the only club facing that, there are a whole load of clubs who face a situation where players maybe sign a pre-contract and are still with that club for the remaining three or four months of the season.

"It's an awkward situation for everybody concerned. If a player goes and signs a lucrative contract elsewhere and he remains at your club, it's a very difficult thing to go and ask him to go out and throw himself in front of some big ugly centre-half.

"That's what makes the situation a difficult one. I would hope we would know quite soon exactly what we face."

Regardless of what Miller decides, Smith wants a quick resolution to the situation.

He added: "He's currently in negotiations with two clubs and we don't know what the outcome of those talks are going to be so we just have to wait and see."

Rangers may have sealed their progression to the fifth round of the Scottish Cup without the 22-goal hitman but, asked whether Miller's departure would affect Rangers' title hopes, Smith replied: "There is no use commenting on things that haven't happened yet. We don't actually know what the situation is going to be so there is no use talking about something that might not happen."

Goals from Lee McCulloch, Kyle Lafferty and a penalty from Steven Whittaker sealed a comfortable win against a Kilmarnock side who were expected to pose a bigger threat at Ibrox.

Smith said: "We are pleased with the win. We thought we would have a tough cup tie in front of us and we knew we would have to play well.

"We started the game very well and we created a number of opportunities and managed to get two good goals in the first half.

"Kilmarnock had one or two half-chances in the second half and we were delighted to get the third goal and it was a good win for us.

Kilmarnock ran Rangers close in previous meetings this season but last night's victory was more comprehensive for Smith's men.

Killie boss Mixu Paatelainen said: "Not every match goes as previous ones do and that's why I always say it's a new adventure, it's a new match.

"You have to go and produce the good form again. Unfortunately, in this game, there was stuff we didn't do well and we lost the game."