Rangers hand Joey Barton three-week suspension

A short statement from the club read: "The manager, Mark Warburton, and club believe that time and space is required for both the club and the player to assess all that has happened."

The 34-year-old left the club on Tuesday after the incident with Halliday, and was told not to return until Monday morning, where he has since learnt his fate.

Upon leaving the meeting, Sky Sports News asked the midfielder whether he is still a Rangers player, to which replied - "I think so".

Barton took to Twitter on Thursday to give his version of events.

"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," he said.

"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."

Barton was referring to the Old Firm clash last Saturday, where a Moussa Dembele hat-trick inspired Celtic to a 5-1 win.