Rangers boss Mark Warburton says Joey Barton meant no malice toward Brendan Rodgers

Rangers boss Mark Warburton sees no need to ask Joey Barton to tone down his comments on their rivals after the midfielder claimed Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was having a "mid-life crisis".

Barton made the comments in a radio interview after trading jibes with Celtic skipper Scott Brown over the summer. But Warburton believes anyone who takes them seriously has a problem.

"I'm sure you know, as I do, that it was a tongue-in-cheek banter-type comment. There was no malice, there was no disrespect from Joey," he told reporters.

"I'm sure you guys like those type of comments. There was no malice behind it. The comments after that were very serious, the comments about recognising the size of the game and the scale of the game.

"If you have taken it out of context, you need help yourself. It was a very light-hearted moment. If you can't see that then there's a problem. There was no disrespect there."

After being asked whether he had met Rodgers in Glasgow, Barton told talkSPORT on Wednesday: "I've not managed to run into him yet. I know the places he goes and the places I go probably differ with the tan and the teeth and that kind of thing.

"They're not the kind of establishments I rock up at. I'm not having a mid-life crisis."