Rangers midfielder and all-round divisive figure Joey Barton has "apologised unreservedly" for the behaviour that saw him banished from training this week and asked not to return until Monday.
Rumours emerged of a heated exchange and physical confrontation between Barton and fellow midfielder Andy Halliday. It is thought that the bust-up stemmed from a sectarian exchange.
Barton, who has courted controversy throughout his career after a number of violent and unsavouryincidents, has now taken to Twitter to give his side of the story and apologise.
To respond to news reports circulating this evening... pic.twitter.com/Leh2FaTn6x
"Obviously after Old Firm game on Saturday (a 5-1 loss to Celtic) everybody was hurting and in training on Tuesday there was a full and frank discussion about the result and reasons for our loss," the 34-year-old said.
"I, like everyone else, care deeply about the task at hand, which is to restore Rangers Football Club to the top of Scottish football," he added.
"The discussion we had involved some sharp disagreement about the game and some harsh words were said. There were only words involved in the disagreement, nothing else. Nevertheless, some of the words used did overstep the mark."
It is believed that Halliday was in the receiving end of a strong challenge from Barton and Halliday then called Barton a "fenian b*****d"
It is alleged that Barton, from a Catholic background although he claims to have no religion, was called a 'fenian b*stard' by Halliday, a demeaning term for Catholics in the UK, but particularly of Irish extraction. Barton is then believed to have responded with 'orange c*nt', referring to the Protestant use of the colour orange, before punching his colleague.
Barton then responded to Halliday's outburst and replied "Who are you calling that, you orange c**t", and subsequently PUNCHED Halliday
"As someone who communicates directly, I accept that some of the things I said were inappropriate and for that I apologise unreservedly," Barton continued.
"I cannot, however, apologise for caring deeply about winning and for wanting to perform better myself and for Rangers to do much better."
"The manager felt that my words were inappropriate and asked that I take some time out to reflect on what he said. He judged it was best if I didn't report for training again until Monday.
No excuses. Nowhere near good enough for our football club yesterday.
"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 every day, in order to help Ranger to do that.Rangers need to get back to winning football matches. This is the most important thing for me now."