Gael Bigirimana is hoping to exorcise the ghosts of his nightmare spell at Rangers by helping Motherwell to a win over Pedro Caixinha’s men on Sunday.

Bigirimana spent an ill-fated loan spell at Ibrox two years ago while a Newcastle United player, but never made an appearance for the first team in his five months north of the border.

A mystery illness was blamed for Bigirimana being left out in the cold, being forced to train on his own away from the main squad.

But speaking after his new club had secured top spot in their Betfred Cup group by seeing off Berwick Rangers by an Elliott Frear goal to nil, Bigirimana insisted that he was in fact fit and available to play during his time in Glasgow.

The midfielder has put the experience behind him now though, and he is solely focused on helping his new club make a flying start to their league campaign.

“On my side, I know there was a lot of aggro going on behind the scenes but for the boys, we were excited to go to a club like Rangers and get some game time,” Bigirimana said.

“For some of them, it worked out well but for me it was just one of those things in life where there was a misunderstanding. Clubs have to protect themselves but in the end, it made me stronger. I met some great people there.

“I didn’t even train with the team. I had to do my own individual sessions. I was at the training ground but I was training on my own.

“It was a medical situation but it’s in the past and I am here with another opportunity to play in the Scottish league, so I’m only looking forward really.

“There’s no point in digging up the things that have been buried. I believe Rangers had to protect themselves and that was the decision they made. It was out of my hands.

“It was [frustrating]. I wasn’t having a good time at Newcastle either in that period, so I just decided to stay there (Ibrox) and do sort of a five-month pre-season. These things happen in football.

“Obviously it’s going to be in the news because I was there and had the situation that happened, but I’m not looking to make it a big scenario. It’s not about me - it’s about Motherwell versus Rangers, not Bigi versus Rangers.

“I’m looking forward to it and hopefully it will be a great day for me and the club.”

Bigirimana doesn’t feel the need to prove anything to anyone at Rangers, but he is looking to make his mark on his new boss, Stephen Robinson.

“The manager keeps driving me to work hard and pushing me to show my talent,” he said.

“That’s my first focus. The rest will follow. It’s not about me trying to show people what I can do. It’s just about doing the simple things and taking one step at a time in every game and every training session. “Then at the end of the season we will see if the move was right or wrong.”

Motherwell huffed and puffed before finally breaking down a stubborn Berwick outfit eight minutes from the end of Saturday’s game at Fir Park, with Robby McCrorie palming a dangerous Chris Cadden cross into Frear’s path, who kept his composure to side-foot home.

The win gave the Steelmen a perfect record of four wins from four in their section, and Bigirimana is hoping that they can take confidence from those victories into Sunday’s game.

“Four games unbeaten in the group can only be a good thing for the team and individually, and mentally going into the game against Rangers next week,” he said.

“Every game, the manager demands from us 100 percent, no matter which side we’re facing. We have to be ready to give a performance. There is a demand there to each player from the manager to push themselves and prove they should be in the starting 11 against Rangers.”