THERE have been points over the last few months that Motherwell supporters wondered if they would ever see Gael Bigirimana making a start for the club again, so far out of the picture did the midfielder appear.

But the 24-year-old has revealed that he almost quit the game altogether last season such was his disillusionment with football.

Bigirimana is known around Fir Park as a bubbly presence in the changing room, but he admits that without the support of wife Natalia, his friends at the club and his faith in God, he might not have climbed out of the dark place he was in only a matter of months ago.

“There was a point last season when I was going to quit,” Bigirimana said.

“That was nothing to do with the club or the manager, I just lost my love of the game.

“I am very lucky because my wife Natalia was great with me and she woke me up with wise words about how lucky I am. She said to me the talent I have comes from God and he wants me to be in football and use that talent in the environment I am in.

“She said I would be stupid not to pursue being a footballer. After that chat I realised how silly I was being, and it was just a rough period I was in.

“Sometimes in life you wake up and don’t feel great - everyone goes through it. It is a difficult place to be and it is like a rollercoaster where you are going down and down.

“You don’t want to become a bad apple in the dressing room and bring everyone else down. I didn’t want to pretend everything was ok, but I came in and done what I had to do.

“I spoke to my friends in the dressing room like Cedric Kipre and Charles Dunne and they helped me through it. I am really close to them and I told them how I was feeling, but Cedric just laughed - that’s the type of guy he is.

“But my faith was a big help during those days.”

Bigirimana started last week’s Lanarkshire derby against Hamilton, and he is delighted to be back in manager Stephen Robinson’s plans after almost leaving the club just a few weeks ago.

“Throughout pre-season [the manager] was assuring me he wasn’t in a rush for me to leave,” he said.

“He wanted me to stay and he knows what I could bring to the team. We have always had a great relationship and he brought me here for a reason.

“There was a possibility to move on in the summer. When you aren’t getting them minutes on the pitch you look at your options.

“I am at the stage of my career where I need to be an established regular in whatever team I am playing for. I have a wife and child and I have to think about them. It isn’t like I am single, and you can think ‘oh, I can wait another year’.

“There was a club interested but they pulled out at the last minute and that is fair enough. By then I was happy to stay here and finish the job. Things can change so quickly in football and I am delighted to still be here.”

Bigirimana holds no grudges against his manager for using him sparingly during his Motherwell career to date, admitting that his lack of game-time was his own fault in the main.

“I take responsibility for last season,” he said. “In the first six months I wasn’t as fit as I should have been. I wasn’t at the same level as the rest of the boys.

“In the second half of the season I was playing catch up and by then the team were doing really well so it was hard to get into the team. I had to be patient and wait for the day when I would get my chance and thankfully that has come.”

Meanwhile, Chris Cadden is a doubt for Motherwell’s visit to Livingston in the Betfred Cup today with a dead leg.