Juande Ramos left Dimitar Berbatov out of Tottenham's squad for the defeat by Sunderland as Spurs' Spanish manager claimed he was not focused enough.
Berbatov, 27, has been constantly linked a move to Manchester United.
Spurs boss Ramos said: "I do not think he is focused enough. I do not feel he will be good for the dressing room."
After the game first-team coach Gus Poyet admitted the club had no idea if Berbatov would still be at White Hart Lane at the end of the transfer window.
"Berbatov was not in the right condition to play "
Spurs, who sold Robbie Keane to Liverpool in July, were forced to play Darren Bent on his own up front in the 2-1 defeat against Sunderland.
Poyet said Spurs were not happy playing Bent as a lone striker and added that the club was "going to try hard to get a couple of replacements" before the transfer window closes on 1 September.
Asked if that meant Berbatov was on his way out of the club Poyet shrugged and said: "What can I say? I think the best thing is to wait to 1 September.
606: DEBATE"There is nothing to hide. We talked to him, like Juande said, the other day and he was not in the right condition to play - I think you say in England, 'not in the right frame of mind'.
"That's the situation, everybody knows, there's nothing we can do."
The Bulgarian has stated it would be his "dream" to move but United are believed to have had a £20.5m bid rejected for the player.
On Friday Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, without naming any specific player, admitted he was "less optimistic" than he had been about the chances of bringing in a new striker before the start of the season.
Ramos is due to speak to Berbatov on Sunday.
"The only thing I concern myself with is picking the best team to try to win the game. I shall talk to the player on Sunday, he is our player and we shall work with him at training."
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