Kenny Miller, the Celtic striker, hinted yesterday that he may have to the leave the club in order to safeguard his future in Alex McLeish's Scotland set up.

The 27-year-old has struggled to make an impact at Parkhead since his move from Wolverhampton Wanderers last summer. Indeed Saturday's start in the 1-0 win against Hibernian was Miller's first since the beginning of 2007.

The international striker has scored just three times in 25 Bank of Scotland Premierleague appearances and has subsequently slumped to fifth in Gordon Strachan's pecking order.

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink has established himself as Gordon Strachan's first choice striker, while Maciej Zurawski, Jiri Jarosik and Craig Beattie have all been selected in favour of Miller in the past month.

Newcastle United were interested observers during the January transfer window and Glenn Roeder is believed to be monitoring the situation at Parkhead with a view to bringing Miller to St James' Park.

Now the player has admitted for the first time that, if he can't get a regular start at Celtic, he will explore other options in an effort to keep his place in the national team.

"I've not played too much football recently and that's something I'm not too happy about, to be honest. The manager picks the team that he thinks is going to win from game to game," he said.

"It's just unfortunate that I haven't been a big part of that for the past six weeks. That's not a great sign for a player, particularly like myself, who wants to maintain his position as an international striker.

"I want to keep my place in the national team and, if I'm not playing regularly, I'll not get that. I'm a footballer, I want to be playing football. I'm not happy to be sitting on the bench or in the stand.

"Obviously, people will speculate on the situation, but I've only heard what's been written in the press. I want to be playing for Celtic, first and foremost, this a great place to work. But I didn't come here to sit and watch games, although, don't get me wrong, it's a great place to do that.

"I've come here to, hopefully, play a leading role in helping the club towards success in the league, cups and in Europe. When you're not in the team, or not even getting a look in, that's the end of the world for a professional footballer.

"Coming in to January, everybody was ahead of me; Maciej, Jan, Craig and Jiri Jarosik were all playing in front of me. I need regular football, every player does, but I'm not concerned with anyone else's situation, I have to prioritise myself."

Miller is well aware that he has very little chance replacing Vennegoor of Hesselink, but believes that he would be capable of forming a productive partnership with the Dutch internationalist.

"Of late, big Jan has been in top form and the club spent a lot of money to bring him here. He's first choice and his performances and goals have elevated him to that position.

"Maciej Zurawski's scored a few goals and, obviously, Craig Beattie has been in the team recently and done pretty well, too. You want to be automatic name on the team sheet, but, personally, I know I've not done enough to warrant that role, as yet. Jan's the main man. But, hopefully, I can be the guy who's going to play alongside him when everybody's fit."

Celtic's second leg Champions League tie against AC Milan is expected to go ahead, as planned, in the San Siro and Miller is anxious to play his part. However, while he is keen to feature against the Serie A side, Miller is prepared to bide his time if it means a victory for Celtic and believes the importance of the game outweighs considerations about where it is played.

"We've got to go and try to win it, wherever the game's being played. If it's behind closed doors, it's not going to be great, it'll feel like a pre-season game or whatever.

"But there's much more at stake than that. We have a chance at getting into the quarter-finals of the Champions League. That's what we're focused on."