Portland Timbers captain Liam Ridgewell was dropped from the gameday 18-player roster by head coach Giovani Savarese ahead of Saturday afternoon's visit to FC Dallas.

Ridgewell, who has been with the Timbers since signing a Designated Player contract midway through the 2014 season, has been part of a defense that had conceded six goals in its first two matches in 2018. That included a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of the New York Red Bulls two weeks ago, in which Ridgewell came under criticism for his play and level of effort.

Ridgewell checking his shoulder, seeing there are two runners on his backpost, and still jogging it out is the most shameful thing I’ve ever seen in a professional soccer game. #RCTID pic.twitter.com/L1cqB09TXi — Chris Rifer (@ChrisRifer) March 11, 2018

A club spokesperson offered no comment on Savarese's decision. Ridgewell took to Twitter prior to the game Saturday to offer a brief message.

Disappointed to be dropped from the squad this weekend. But I’ll keep on working hard as usual. — Ridgy 6 (@liam_ridgewell) March 24, 2018

Ridgewell has made 86 league appearances for Portland, and helped the Timbers become the first Cascadia team to win the MLS Cup in 2015.