The Rams find themselves rooted to the bottom of the table having picked up just one point from their opening five games and most recently suffered a humiliating 6-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.

Not exactly the way to impress new signing Miller, who arrived for an undisclosed fee from Celtic on deadline day and is hoping to overcome a hamstring injury in time for Monday's game with Newcastle at Pride Park.

"I'm choking to get a game," Miller said.

"Even to get back into training and getting amongst the lads - you miss that when you are injured. I'm just looking forward to getting fit."

The injury forced Miller out of Scotland's squad for the Euro 2008 qualifiers with Lithuania and France and the former Wolves striker admits the problem has been a major frustration.

"I'm desperate to get back fit and get back playing again. Even at Celtic I only played about 100 minutes in the first five or six games.

"It's very frustrating, I hate being injured, any professional would say the same thing. I am getting there now at least."

Miller has already suffered relegation from the English top flight once in his career with Wanderers but insists he had no qualms about joining Billy Davies' side despite their lowly position and is confident they can survive.

"It's not great to be down there (at the bottom). I have chosen to come here despite that," he said.

"I have watched the Premier League and I see the players that are there and I believe Derby have a squad and have a good enough manager to stay in this league.

"The manager played a great part in me deciding to come. I think he has done a fantastic job in getting Derby back where they belong in the Premier League and hopefully I can still play a part in helping us stay there."

The 27-year-old believes the experience he gained during his spell at Molineux could prove invaluable for his new employers and insists the fight for relegation is "far from over".

"It's a very similar start to what Wolves had. We were right in the shake-up until the last couple of weeks.

"It's about getting that first win on the board. Monday night is a fantastic opportunity at home, we will have a full house behind us. It will be a great game personally for me to make my debut.

"I would love to be playing Monday night. If we can get the right result hopefully that can kickstart us for the season.

"It's a massive boost when you are winning games, let's be honest nobody is going to say we are going to go on a run of winning six or seven games but not many teams will go and do that.

"If you can throw a couple of draws in there and and a win it gives you that run of unbeaten games and it gives you a big pick up. It's far from over, put it that way."