Ipswich Town boss Paul Jewell has said issues away from football have contributed towards Jason Scotland's dip in form.
The 31-year-old striker was left out of the squad for Saturday's loss to Doncaster.
"Jason hasn't been feeling himself. He's been feeling very sluggish," Jewell told BBC Radio Suffolk.
"Without going into too much detail, more stuff goes on than maybe supporters know about."
After featuring in 12 games this season, Scotland was replaced by Hungarian frontman Tamas Priskin, who was making his first start since being told he could leave Portman Road in September.
"Jason's just felt a bit tired and sluggish," continued Jewell.
"I had a chat with him on Thursday and Friday and I thought 'there's no point putting him on the bench, I'll give Tamas a go'."
Full-back Carlos Edwards was also removed from the Town starting line-up, with on-loan Manchester City right-back Reece Wabara taking his place.
Edwards, 33, received a suspended jail sentence last month for driving without a licence and Jewell believes it has affected his performances.
"Carlos has had a lot going on in his life the last few weeks. I just felt it's caught up with him the last few games," said the Town boss.
"I decided to give Reece a go, it was a tough game for Reece to come into, where the rest of the team were edgy and jittery."
Jewell struggled to find reasons to praise his side following a third straight defeat, but he did approve of the impact of his three substitutes.
Priskin's replacement, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, and wingers Lee Martin and Josh Carson, who scored, contributed towards Ipswich's attempted recovery from 3-0 down to 3-2.
"If there's any positives Josh Carson came on and showed energy and desire. Lee Martin stretched the game a bit," said Jewell.
"And Emmanuel-Thomas, with the goal he created for Michael Chopra, was a plus.
"But I'm not kidding myself. This is a big job, a hard job. A job I look forward to coming into every day with relish but it's really tough at the minute."