Steven Gerrard will only restore Tyrone Mings to the Aston Villa side when the defender 'looks him in the eye and shows that he's ready to play.'
Villa's manager stripped the England international of the captain's armband in pre-season and appointed John McGinn in his place.
Mings, 29, was also an unused substitute as Villa lost their Premier League season opener 2-0 at Bournemouth on Saturday.
Explaining those calls, Gerrard told BBC Radio WM: 'When I made the decision over the captaincy, I set him that challenge.
'We said to Tyrone "if you get back to your consistent best, you'll be back in the team."'
When Gerrard made the decision, Mings took to Twitter to say he had 'no issues with the manager's decision.'
But when asked if Mings' omission from Saturday's team at the Vitality Stadium was down to his reaction to losing the armband, Gerrard added: 'It's a little bit of that.
'He also missed some training time with an injury and there's a niggle in the background as well.
'When Tyrone is back at his best and looks me in the eye and shows that he's ready to play, he'll get opportunities.'
Villa slipped to defeat against the newly-promoted Cherries, courtesy of goals by Jefferson Lerma after only two minutes and Kieffer Moore late on.
Asked if the team missed the influence of Mings, Gerrard said: 'I think people might talk about that.
'The easy thing to do after a defeat is look at the people who weren't on the pitch.
'We had enough quality on the pitch to win that game. I'm confident of that.'
Villa have the chance to get their first points on the board when they entertain Everton on Saturday lunchtime.