Adel Taarabt has taken a swipe at Harry Redknapp after the QPR manager accused the player of being overweight.
The 25-year-old was left out of the Hoops squad for Sunday’s dramatic 3-2 defeat to Liverpool and has made just three appearances all season.
Redknapp was asked by GetWestLondon reporter Paul Warburton why Taarabt had not featured against the Reds in the aftermath of the defeat.
“The journalist [Warburton] was doing his job and asking if I was injured,” Taarabt told the Daily Mail.
“He [Redknapp] should have said “when he is fit he will play”. He is not 30 or 35, he is an experienced manager and he should have controlled that situation.
“I didn’t do pre-season with the team because I had an ankle injury, so I wasn’t 100 per cent.
“I am a professional - this is not about retaliation, this is about protecting my reputation.
“‘I played in that reserve game for 90 minutes and if he didn’t think I was running he could have taken me off. Maybe I didn’t perform like I could because it was a reserve team game and I was protecting myself.
“Just because we are losing games I am not going to kick the ball in the stands. My job is to create, bring goals to the team.
“Maybe he expects me to make more tackles. I am not this type of player. I can only get fitness playing Premier League. You can train six or seven hours, but you won’t be fit.”
Taarabt returned to Rangers this summer after a spell in Italy on loan at AC Milan last season.
