Kevin Thomson has described as "laughable" suggestions he had a heated argument with Maurice Malpas, Hibernian's assistant manager, during training and that the fall-out is the reason for the midfielder's lack of first-team action.
The Scotland international was a regular in the side under Pat Fenlon but has played just 32 minutes since Terry Butcher was appointed manager in November.
Thomson said that following the signings of Danny Haynes, Duncan Watmore and Daniel Boateng, as well as the resurgence of Tom Taiwo, he does not expect to figure when he returns to fitness after a calf strain.
However, the 29-year-old, who is scheduled to resume training next Monday vehemently denied his exile is the result of a disagreement with Malpas, as internet speculation has claimed.
Thomson said: "There is no issue with the manager or Mo [Malpas]. I get on really well with Mo.
"I did hear there was something on the internet suggesting Mo and I had a bust-up on the training field. That is laughable to be honest. Liam Craig told me about it - I am not one for Twitter or reading the papers.
"When players are not in the groove and not involved, fans want to know why but there is no reason. The manager picks the team and unfortunately I have not been in it.
"He brought in three players in January. I had limited opportunities before that, so I would imagine my opportunities are going to be even more limited."
Thomson has not given up on earning a place in Butcher's plans. He added: "I am not throwing my toys out of the pram, I am here working hard.
"I have always felt I have the ability to play at the club and fingers crossed I will get an opportunity in the near future. I feel I can contribute a great deal to the team. I will keep working hard to try to push my way into the manager's plans. There have been other boys who have not featured much and then come in.
"Hopefully he will see my quality in training and give me an opportunity to play. I am quite willing to play in the under-20s and East of Scotland League games."
However, Thomson's contract ends in the summer and the former Rangers and Middlesbrough player conceded: "If I am not in the team and not in the manager's plans then of course I would need to look for something else in the summer. That's part and parcel of football."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article