Kilmarnock’s Liam Millar hopes King Kenny can inspire him to Cup success

LIAM MILLAR admits that he owes a huge amount to Steven Gerrard.

But the Kilmarnock forward will do all he can to knock Rangers out of the Scottish Cup – with the help of Kenny Dalglish.

Millar joined Killie on loan from Liverpool last week and made his debut as a substitute in the defeat by Hearts on Friday night.

The 19-year-old Canadian international hopes to feature against Dundee in midweek and then has Rangers in his sights.

Saturday’s Scottish Cup tie against the Ibrox side will see him reunited with his former Under-18s coach.

He said: “Steven Gerrard was really good for me last year.

“He gave me the chance to play week-in, week-out with the Under-18s and when I started to find success, he pushed me and put me in to the Under-23s.

“He knew what was right for me and helped my development a lot.

“When I first saw him I was shell-shocked because he was someone I’d watched a lot on TV when I was a kid. He was an icon to everyone in the world.

“Once I got used to him, he was a nice, normal guy.

“He is very calm but he also has a hard side to him, as you can imagine he had as a player.

“You just have to make sure you get on his good side.

“I could tell he would be a good manager.

“In the first half of the season we were undefeated under him, until players started getting success and moving up to the Under-23s.”

Playing Rangers also sets up an on-pitch battle with Millar’s international captain, Scott Arfield.

He said: “He’s probably going to absolutely smash me!

“He’s a guy I really admire from playing with Canada.

“He’s our captain and one of the most inspirational people on that team.”

Millar, who signed a new deal with Liverpool before joining Kilmarnock until the end of the season, revealed that another Anfield legend helped send him to Scotland.

He said: “I’ve heard a lot of good things about Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke from people at Liverpool.

“Kenny Dalglish was the one who recommended me to him, which is not too bad!

“Everyone says he gets the best out of you and that’s what Steven Gerrard did with me last season.

“Kenny Dalglish gets involved in our sessions every now and then. He helps us with our finishing and stuff.

“I’ve trained with the first-team at Liverpool now and again.

“The front three is unbelievable, it’s amongst the best in the world and that makes it so hard to break in.

“It’s almost insane thinking you could replace one of the strikers, but there’s always a chance if I can do well for Kilmarnock.

“Getting first-team football is really important to develop as a young player.””