Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill has revealed that Jordan Jones has "apologised 100 times" for his moment of madness against Celtic.
O'Neill says the Rangers winger is still devastated by the tackle that has kept him sidelined for the past six weeks.
Jones picked up a knee injury when he dived in on Moritz Bauer in the dying moments of the 2-0 defeat at Ibrox.
The former Kilmarnock player is nearing a return to first-team action but faces stiff competition to get back into the squad with Greg Stewart hitting form as well as Ryan Kent nearing a return to fitness while Sheyi Ojo, Brandon Barker and Jamie Murphy are all battling for places.
O'Neill is confident Jones will force his way back into Gerrard's first-team plans and revealed he has continually apologised for the incident.
He said: "If Jordan has apologised to me once, he has apologised 100 times.
"It was a rash moment. Players do that. Players have moments of madness. I think his actions post that game were good. He was very open about his apology to the Celtic player in question and he knows he was in the wrong.
"That was his first experience of an Old Firm game. He was maybe a little bit disappointed that he didn't get a chance to start. I saw him play against Legia Warsaw in the Europa League midweek game a few days before the Celtic match and he played very well, making a big difference when he came into it.
"These are all things he will have to learn from. Jordan is very disappointed he is missing our group games and he is disappointed he is missing the chance to establish himself at Rangers, but he will learn from his actions and I have no doubt he will come back strong and be ready to play and be as keen as ever to show what he's all about for us and his club.
"There's clearly no favourites at Rangers. If you play well you stay in the team, if you don't play well you are out of the team. At a club like Rangers, and under a manager like Steven Gerrard, Jordan will have to play well to stay in the team.
"They have a lot of options and a lot of good wide players. What he has shown in his time at Rangers is that he is at that level.
"That is always the first challenge for a player when they come from a smaller club in Scotland and they go to either side of the Old Firm.
"You have to prove you can do it. That doesn't happen overnight."
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