RANGERS boss Russell Martin revealed that want-away striker Hamza Igamane refused to come off the bench during yesterday's draw at St Mirren.
Under growing pressure from supporters, Martin watched his team toil once again in Paisley as their poor start to the new season continued.
It took a late equaliser from young substitute Findlay Curtis 12 minutes from time to rescue a point for the under-fire manager.
But, nonetheless, Martin became the first Rangers manager since Graeme Souness in 1989 to fail to win any of the opening three league games at the start of a new season.
Martin revealed afterwards that he had wanted to bring Igamane on as a sub in the second half, only for the Moroccan forward to claim he was injured.
Igamane was the subject of a failed loan bid from Lille during the week and continues to be linked with a move away from Ibrox before the end of the transfer window.
'We had a bid this week for Hamza,' said Martin, whose side now trail Celtic by six points ahead of next weekend's Old Firm clash at Ibrox. 'I turned around to him at 60 minutes and Hamza told me he's injured.
'He wouldn't be on the bench if he wasn't fit. But Hamza told me the injury happened during the warm-up. I obviously need to trust him, but we'll see. He said he had a sore quad and couldn't come on.
'I have to trust him, but we'll see. The issue is that the window is still open and there are people with one eye out and one eye in. We need the window to shut.
'There are too many people uncertain and we have to make sure we have people that want to be here. Some of the guys are quite young. The situation will be cleared up in the next ten days. I'm calm about it.
'I'm really happy with the guys we've got, but in 10 days, we need to be even happier with what we have in the building. And the guys who really are not all-in probably need to play football.'
Martin pointed to the example of Cyriel Dessers as someone who has continued to apply themselves despite their future at the club being unclear.
Martin has held talks with Dessers over the summer and, whilst it is understood that the player would be open to a move and a fresh start elsewhere, at no point has he downed tools and explicitly asked to leave.
'Cyriel has worked hard to get himself fit,' said Martin. 'He wasn't quite ready today but he'll probably be fit for Wednesday night against Brugge.
'Whilst he has made it really clear what his intention or desire would be, there's been no problem with him. None.
'Cyriel trains properly, he's part of the team, and he plays. But everyone's different. He's quite experienced, whereas some of the other guys are quite young.'
Rangers have now failed to win any of their opening three league matches of the new campaign, with the 1-1 draw in Paisley following draws against Motherwell and Dundee.
Martin and his players will now head to Belgium to face Club Brugge in the second leg of their Champions League play-off tie, which sees them trail 3-1.
The under-fire manager was left to lament a slow start and a poor first-half display yesterday, with Saints leading through Jonah Ayunga's opener before Curtis fired a late equaliser.
'We don't start well enough again, not enough energy and intensity,' said Martin. 'The ball can't get behind us like that two-v-one, it's impossible.
'It's much easier when you show courage to take the ball and stick to the ball.
'There's too much tension, there's not enough courage with the ball, so we have to fight more than we should without the ball. It's nothing new.
'The second half we finish strongly and I thought we'd go on to win the game, but we don't. We will work it out, we'll get feedback from the players.
'Usually eight weeks in, you're two or three games in. We're having to learn quickly. The whole dynamic can change by the end of next week.
'Perspective is really important. There's a few areas we're looking to strengthen, but I don't think there's anything imminent.
'But we have had bids for a couple of players, so it's only natural that we would look to replace them.'