Warburton remains tight-lipped on Barton fiasco

Mark Warburton was not willing to discuss Joey Barton’s Rangers exile after the club were held to a 0-0 draw by Ross County on Saturday.

The former Manchester City and Newcastle United midfielder confirmed on Thursday that he had been banned from training until Monday after clashing with both team-mate Andy Halliday and Warburton.

Barton’s absence stemmed from heated discussions about Rangers’ 5-1 hammering by Celtic and the midfielder then proceeded to air his thoughts in a radio broadcast, but Warburton is remaining tight-lipped on the matter.

He told reporters: “It’s an internal matter that is being dealt with. We won’t make any comment on any internal matter.

“It didn’t affect our preparations. It’s just another matter that you deal with, it’s part of the challenge of day-to-day working life.

“We did very well, we trained well and we gave a good performance but didn’t get the rewards that I felt we deserved.”