Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has insisted Alfredo Morelos made it an "easy decision" to drop him from the squad to face Kilmarnock.
Morelos was omitted from the starting 11 and substitutes against the Ayrshire side as Kemar Roofe and Ryan Kent scored the goals in a 2-0 home win.
It comes after the manager revealed he "had his head turned" in recent weeks after transfer speculation linking him with a move to Lille.
And after the match he issued his most scathing criticism yet as he revealed it was a simple call in the end after noticing the Colombian striker's wavering focus.
Gerrard said: “I want it to be difficult in every position, going back to the goalkeeper question, I want two good players in every position fighting for their places.
“But if I see people aren’t focused and they take their eye off the ball and they’re not really hungry to get this club results, then I have to make these decisions.
“And Alfredo made it easy for me this week.”
Rangers equalled an all-time defensive record of five clean sheets to start a season as Jon McLaughlin retained his place in goal.
Gerrard acknowledged that he has been criticised for playing a midfield too defensive in nature at times and replaced Glen Kamara with Steven Davis for Saturday's match.
The change worked well and he added: “I think the players deserve a lot of credit.
“We’re defending really well, we’re doing the ugly bits and the dirty work really well.
“We’ve got balance behind the ball, I know people were saying we had too much balance behind the ball at Livingston and maybe we need to be more risky.
“I certainly respect those opinions but the players have applied themselves ever so well on the training pitch and they’re getting the rewards from it.”
