Rangers manager Steven Gerrard insisted the punishment handed out to the club's five Covid rule-breakers is "harsh" as he criticised the SFA for banning a future Scotland star in Nathan Patterson.
Patterson - along with Bongani Zungu, Calvin Bassey, Dapo Mebude and Brian Kinnear - was handed a six-game ban which his club are now in the process of appealing.
The punishment came after the quintet attended a party during lockdown but Gerrard insists it's a different situation compared to the one involving Jordan Jones and George Edmundson from November, who also attended a gathering in Glasgow and were slapped with seven-game bans before both headed out on loan in the January window.
And after beating Cove Rangers 4-0 to take his side into the fourth round of the Scottish Cup where they'll face Celtic, the boss reserved a special defence for 19-year-old Patterson who he believes will go on to star for his country.
Gerrard said: “It’s something we’re still discussing at the moment, we’re obviously in talks with the SFA for another date.
“The reason is the obvious reason: we think it’s harsh in terms of what happened on the night.
“I think everyone assumes because of what happened to Jordan Jones and George Edmundson that everything is the same, which isn’t the case.
“We think it’s a little bit out of sync in terms of what went on.
“We don’t think everything is being taken into consideration, when you’re talking about the boys in terms of of their age and how damaging it can be for them in their careers moving forward now.
“You’re talking about one of the brightest prospects ever, in terms of right-back. This kid’s going to play for Scotland and all of a sudden the SFA want to ban him for that long, I don’t get it but we’ll see what happens moving forward.
“I know Steve Clarke rates him. We’ve had a discussion over Nathan. He’s burst onto the scene, played against top teams and top individuals and you can see there is a talent and a potential there.
“It’s only a matter of time before he becomes an international. That’s not putting any pressure on the player. But those decisions are down to Steve and whoever manages Scotland moving forward.”
