Steve Kean has stripped Christopher Samba of the Blackburn captaincy after the powerhouse defender expressed his desire to leave Ewood Park.
Samba missed Sunday's 2-0 home defeat to Stoke with an ankle injury and Kean said while he would have played if he had not failed a late test, he would not have worn the armband.
Kean said: "Christopher would have played but he wouldn't have been captain because at the moment he is looking to possibly get away from the club.
"Until he can come back and say he is happy to stay I think we'll look elsewhere in the club. He would have played but he failed a fitness test."
Kean had to endure boos at the final whistle after goals from Robert Huth and Marc Wilson helped end the visitors' run of three League games without a win.
And Kean - given the job until the end of the season this week - said: "We can understand the frustration of the fans and we are just as frustrated in the dressing room.
"There has been upheaval at the club but I don't want to make excuses because that is not the way I am. I was disappointed with the goals we gave away.
"When you look at the personnel that we don't have available it is difficult to get that balance in the middle. But that is no excuse because the lads put in there understood their roles."
Delighted Stoke boss Tony Pulis hailed his side for the way they responded to their home defeat to Blackpool two weeks ago and bounced back to take the points.
Pulis said: "That defeat was very hard to take and it was important to bounce back and I thought we deserved to win the game.
"I was disappointed it was 0-0 at half-time and I don't know how Matthew Etherington missed his chance. We had a couple of golden opportunities and didn't take them.
"But in the second half we stepped it up a bit. I was really pleased with Robert's goal because our return off set-plays has not been as good as it could have been."
And Pulis also had words of encouragement for Kenwyne Jones, who has still not scored since his strike against Liverpool last month but who was only denied by a super save by Paul Robinson.
Pulis added: "Kenwyne played very well and led the line. I have no doubt that Kenwyne is going to be fine. He just needs a bit of luck and one to go in off someone else's backside."
