Friday 16 September 2016 21:13, UK
Rangers midfielder Joey Barton has apologised after he was ordered to stay away from the training ground following a row.
Barton missed training on Thursday and Sky sources understand he will not be considered for Saturday's game against Ross County at Ibrox.
And the Press Association are reporting that Barton was sent home on Tuesday, three days after Saturday's 5-1 thrashing at Celtic, following an altercation with team-mate Andy Halliday.
Rangers say they don't wish to comment on the reports, but Barton posted a lengthy statement on Twitter on Thursday night.
He said: "Obviously after Old Firm game on Saturday everybody was hurting and in training on Tuesday there was full and frank discussion about the result and reasons for our loss.
"The discussion we had involved some sharp disagreement about the game and some harsh words were said.
"There were only words used in the disagreement, nothing else. Nevertheless, some of the words used did overstep the mark.
"As someone who communicates directly, I accept that some of the things I said were inappropriate and for that I apologise unreservedly.
"I cannot, however, apologise for caring deeply about winning and for wanting to perform better myself and for Rangers to do much better."
The 34-year-old confirmed that he has been instructed to stay away from the club until next week and added: "Whilst I don't feel that this was necessary I fully respect the manager's decision.
"I regret what happened and on Monday I will report for training and I will do what it takes to help the team draw a line under it so that we can get back to the task at hand.
"I want Rangers to win. This is all I care about and my overriding intention is to give my all, everyday, in order to help Rangers do that.
"I hope this message clarifies the situation."
His statement was followed by a further tweet which said: "Apologising doesn't always mean that you're wrong and the other person is right. It means you value your relationship more than your ego."
The former Newcastle, QPR and Manchester City midfielder, who joined Rangers on a two-year free transfer deal from Burnley on July 1, had admitted on Sunday that the Parkhead loss was unacceptable.
He wrote on Twitter: "No excuses. Nowhere near good enough for our football club."
Warburton played it cool after the weekend's miserable result and said there would be no knee-jerk reaction, insisting he would take time to analyse the match and look to cut out the individual errors.
The Ibrox boss earlier claimed the media reaction to his side's derby loss had been overly negative, but made no mention of Barton's situation at his press conference to preview Saturday's league encounter.
"People keep asking me if I'm okay," Warburton said. "Of course we're okay. We are professionals. The result hurt so many people, none more so than us, but we have to get on with it."
