The midfielder is currently flourishing at Dundee United after rediscovering his enjoyment for the game due to playing regularly.

Having made the move to Ibrox from the other side of the Tannadice Street, he struggled to become a regular in the team, making just 10 appearances during the first half of last season - mostly from the bench.

A loan at Aberdeen followed but he was back in Glasgow for pre-season, before it became clear he was not going to get much of a sniff again.

After heading out to join Jim Goodwin's side, he has hit the ground running and already has two goals in five games.

Looking back, the 24-year-old admits all sorts of doubts entered his head during that period.

“When you’re enjoying your football, it makes a big difference and I’ve not had that for the last year," he said.

“You start to question yourself. ‘Have I lost it? Did I ever have it?’

“It’s difficult and you start to ask a lot of  questions because it has been so long since you have performed to the level you want to.

“I just had to keep going. That’s something I’ve always done in my career when I’ve had a setback. I’ve just tried to go again and prove what I can do.

“There were loads of conversations between me and Derek McInnes but we figured it was the best thing for me to play games.”

The midfielder reckons people forget that footballers are human and can be massively affected by outside factors.

He added: “That’s the massive part of football which gets forgotten. You forget the actual human aspect of it and  become just another player.

“If you’re not enjoying yourself, if you’re not feeling you have the  trust of the manager  and you’re not getting confidence from him, it’s all the more difficult.

“I’ve spoken to the manager here plenty of times before and I know he likes me. 

“He wanted to give me chances to play.

“So that was enough for me. I needed that,  in a place where I was going to be appreciated.”