Joe Aribo in Rangers form confession as he admits Nigeria heartbreak took its toll

Joe Aribo admits it was "hard" going back to Rangers after Nigeria's World Cup heartbreak.

But the upbeat midfielder is looking to the future as he looks ahead to Nigeria's AFCON qualifiers this month.

The influential Aribo was criticised for his performances after the January international break and concedes his performances did tail off.

However he insists it was a "good season" under Gio van Bronckhorst over the piece - and he's excited about what comes next.

Aribo has already played an incredible 65 games this season for club and country and still has those three games to go, with the former Charlton Athletic midfielder instrumental in Rangers' run to the Europa League Final.

And looking back at the season in a radio interview in his homeland, the 25-year-old admitted he wasn't as consistent as he would have liked in the second part of the campaign and admits Nigeria's failure to qualify for the World Cup hit him hard.

He said: "It's been a long season and I have played a lot of games.

"For me, it was a good season. When I look at my numbers, stat-wise, I think I have a lot to be happy about.

"But I wanted more, especially when you compare the numbers I was coming up with in the first part of the season compared with the second half of the season.

"And I was also disappointed that we couldn't win the Europa League.

"Failing to qualify for the World Cup was a huge disappointment for me too. It was hard for me coming back to Rangers after that for some time.

"But I just had to say to myself that God has a plan and it wasn’t to be for some reason, but we can’t question God. God knows best."