Martin tried to force the Belgian midfielder out of Ibrox last summer but the midfielder has returned to top form

Nicolas Raskin has told how Russell Martin tried to force him out of Rangers – only to act as if nothing had happened weeks later.

The Belgian playmaker was bizarrely bombed out under Martin and banished from first-team training after a bitter stand-off with the beleaguered manager. Yet while most players would’ve jumped ship at the first opportunity, Raskin refused to believe his Gers career was over.

The fans’ favourite had the full support of the Ibrox crowd and his name was belted out after he was forced to watch the first Old Firm game of the season from his couch. Supporters feared the 25-year-old’s days would be numbered as the clock ticked towards transfer deadline day. But Raskin refused to budge.

He told the Rangers Review: “He [Martin] called me saying I wasn’t in his plan. Whatever happened, I wouldn’t be in his plan and it would be better for me to leave.

“I think that was just because the window was closing a couple of days after. It was kind of the last try [to get me to leave]. But I said to him, ‘I’ll be coming to training on Monday and then we’ll have a chat’.”

He added: “If I believed that [my Rangers career was over], I would have tried to leave.”

No sooner had Martin unpacked his bags at Ibrox than he threw his players under the bus after a disappointing opening day draw at Motherwell.

Without naming names, Martin blasted: “We had two men on the pitch today that want to do what they want to do. When you want to just jog around and do what you want to do, there’s a big problem. So some of them have to drop their ego.”

Raskin felt that was an unwarranted dig towards himself – and possibly James Tavernier – as the duo were dropped for the next game.

He said: “After the first game of the season, I saw an interview where he was talking about two players who had too much ego and stuff like that.

“I think he was talking about me and someone else. I didn’t really understand that. Because, OK, we drew that game and it wasn’t great.

“But is it the time to go and call for me directly after one game? And from that game, it just went from bad to worse. I wasn’t really happy with what happened.”

When the transfer window shut, Raskin hoped for an immediate clean slate. But it didn’t happen, as Martin publicly told his frozen-out midfielder that he’d have to regain “trust” at the club.

Yet days after watching from the stands against Hearts, Raskin found himself hiking with Martin during the infamous team-bonding session at Loch Lomond and Conic Hill. It was a bizarre situation Raskin couldn’t quite wrap his head around.

He said: “I had to come back to train for two weeks. Then the Hearts game happened. I wasn’t with the squad. I was alone in the stand for that game.

“And then after that game, this was the weird situation for me, where suddenly I was invited to the day where we went climbing and it felt strange for me because I felt that nothing had happened. It was all ‘How are you?’ And nothing really… back to normal. Like those two weeks never happened.”

Raskin eventually made a goalscoring return in a 2-0 Premier Sports Cup win over Hibs. But just four games later, Martin was sacked.

He added: “At the end of the day, it was a misunderstanding of the situation. And then with the pressure, people can maybe sometimes go in some direction and think they are right or whatever. I just think the whole situation has been too much for what it had to be. Way too much. I never wanted that.

“I don’t think it was good for the team at that period when we were all struggling. to have a big story about that. And was it a deflection or anything? I don’t know. But it was really not needed.”