Rangers' appeal against the Covid 5's SFA ban has been thrown out.
The Ibrox club's challenge against the six-game suspension dished out to the players was resolved on Tuesday.
Nathan Patterson, Bongani Zungu, Calvin Bassey, Dapo Mebude and Brian Kinnear were suspended for six matches after attending an illegal gathering in February.
Rangers, however, viewed the punishment as overly harsh and signalled their intent to contest it.
The appeal date ensured Patterson was able to play a key role in the Scottish Cup win over Celtic at the weekend with Bassey and Zungu on the bench.
But the original sentence has been held following Tuesday's hearing.
Former Celtic star Kris Commons believes Rangers knew exactly what they were doing with the appeal as they "played the system" to their advantage as Patterson was free to play against the Hoops.
In his Daily Mail column, he wrote: "First things first. Nathan Patterson should not have been on the field yesterday.
"The fact that the appeal of the five Rangers players who breached Covid protocols is not being heard by the SFA until tomorrow is absurd.
"The incident happened two months ago and is still dragging on.
"But Rangers are only playing the system because they are able to do so. It's the SFA dragging their heels that have allowed them this option."
