Everton manager Ronald Koeman has explained that he hauled Ross Barkley off the pitch against Sunderland because the midfielder was not performing at the right "level".
The 22-year-old was substituted by Koeman in the half-time break of the Toffees' 3-0 win at the Stadium of Light on Monday evening.
The snub comes almost a fortnight after he was left out of Sam Allardyce's England squad, but Koeman has insisted that there are no issues.
"[Barkley] didn't show the level I expect," Koeman told reporters. "I know it's always difficult for the manager because he was not selected for the national team and you take the player off after 45 minutes.
"But I had to do something. He lost too many balls. But I will speak to Ross tomorrow and that's no problem."
Barkley has scored twice for Everton so far this season.
No Data Analysis info
Germany
Switzerland
Hungary
Scotland
Spain
Italy
Croatia
Albania
England
Denmark
Slovenia
Serbia
Austria
France
Netherlands
Poland
Romania
Belgium
Slovakia
Ukraine
Portugal
Turkey
Georgia
Czech Republic