When Jordan Jones and George Edmundson breached Covid-19 protocols they were dealt with swiftly and – rightly – with a heavy hand by Rangers but Nathan Patterson’s recent redemption act has led to calls of favouritism by Steven Gerrard.
Admittedly, some of these calls are by the likes of Chris Sutton, but it is still a topic of conversation amongst observers of Scottish football, with many claiming that the current injury list, which has three potential right-back options all missing is the biggest reason for the Scotland youth cap’s reintroduction.
The Scotsman reported on the gaffer’s confirmation that there has been no preferential treatment or moving of the goalposts with Rangers still waiting to hear how the players will be punished by the SFA – if at all – and that in the mean time, they remain available for selection at home and abroad:
“The boys are back in the group and it’s important to say they are not being treated any differently to the previous two.
“They have been dealt with exactly the same in terms of fines. They all had to self-isolate for the correct amount of time under the government guidelines. They were suspended by the club for the same amount of time and fined exactly the same amount in terms of weeks’ wages.
“They were dealt with the same in terms of one-to-one conversations with me. I told them all the same in terms of what I thought and all the same in that they had a second chance to play for Rangers again.
“The only difference is that the two previous lads were desperate to play and wanted to go out on loan. That was their decision as much as mine. But it’s important for me to stress that no-one is being treated differently from anyone else.