Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic criticised the training ground performances of striker Kerem Bulut who was surprisingly dropped from the match-day squad that drew with Central Coast Mariners.

Just hours before kick-off on Saturday, the club announced Bulut was removed from the 16-man team sheet after being replaced by Brendon Santalab in the starting line-up and teenager Lachlan Scott was promoted to the substitutes bench.

Popovic denied there were any attitude issues with Bulut, suggesting it was a "footballing decision" to demote the striker after his preparations for the match did not meet the club's standards.

"We feel we want more in training. He needs to do – not just him but for me they're in the same bracket, whether it's Kerem, Shannon [Cole], Bruno [Pinatares], other players that didn't make the squad. There's an expectation ... they're training every day and we want more, we want to see more from certain players and Kerem is just in that group."