Steven Gerrard has forgiven Peter Hartley over "naive" comments he made about former Rangers defender Fabio Cardoso sustaining a broken nose.
Motherwell captain Hartley issued an apology and retraction on Thursday after saying it was "fun to watch" Cardoso "weeping" after he was injured in a clash with Ryan Bowman.
Cardoso - now playing at home in Portugal for Santa Clara - was left with blood pouring from his nose as Motherwell beat Rangers 2-0 to reach the Betfred Cup final in October last year.
But Gerrard has moved to ease any tension between the sides ahead of their meeting at Fir Park on Sunday in the wake of Hartley's admission that his comments had fallen below the standards expected of a captain.
Gerrard said: "We accept the apology. I spoke to [Motherwell boss] Steve Robinson this morning. The kid has been naive, he's got it badly wrong.
"But to be fair he has been sharp to retract the comments and issue an apology.
"Steve has been on this morning, we've had a conversation and I think it's important now that we focus on the football. There's an exciting game to play on Sunday for both teams and I think we need to put that to bed.
"We accept the apology, we forgive and we move on."