Fraser Aird scored his only goal in eight Canada caps against Scotland in 2017

Former Rangers winger Fraser Aird says he can see why people may "raise their eyebrows" about his "stepping stone" move to Cove Rangers.

The Canada international joined the Scottish League Two leaders on a deal until January last month.

He left second-tier Dundee United by mutual consent in September, just halfway through his two-year deal.

"I will always be remembered as that player that played for Rangers," Aird, 24, told BBC Scotland.

"That is just the way Scottish football works. But if I keep doing well here until January, you never know what can happen.

"I played, for me, for the biggest club in Scotland, which is now playing in the Europa League and I'm now playing in the bottom tier of Scottish football. People might raise their eyebrows and think, 'Why?'

"I played in the play offs to get into the Premiership, I finished with the most assists last year in the Championship, so I have proven that I can play at different levels. This could be a stepping stone for me."

Aird emerged at Ibrox as a 17-year-old in 2012, when the club was in the fourth tier of Scottish football, and remained a Rangers player until 2017.

After a loan spell at Vancouver Whitecaps, the winger had spells with Falkirk and Dunfermline Athletic before he was signed by Csaba Laszlo at Tannadice last summer.

Laszlo was sacked a few months later and Aird barely featured under his successor Robbie Neilson, who loaned him to Queen of the South for the second half of last term.

"The manager didn't really have me in his plans, he signed 11 players in January, but that happens in football, managers come in, they want to put their own touch on the team," added Aird, who scored on his Cove debut against Annan Athletic.

"There was no bad blood between me and the gaffer, he just told me I wasn't going to play as much as I wanted to and you want to play, so it was one of those ones where I was happy to move on."