Rangers saw the benefit of Nathan Patterson’s second chance against Royal Antwerp
Steven Gerrard has denied any suggestion that there have been double standards in relation to how Rangers have handled Covid-19 rule-breakers.
Jordan Jones and George Edmundson were suspended by the Ibrox club after breaching protocols in November, and are now on loan at Sunderland and Derby County respectively without having kicked a ball for Rangers since.
February saw Nathan Patterson, Dapo Mebude, Calvin Bassey, Brian Kinnear and Bongani Zungu subjected to an internal investigation after another breach, with Patterson, Bassey and Zungu issuing an apology on Rangers TV.
In a move that surprised some observers, the three who apologised were named among the substitutes for last Thursday’s Europa League round of 32 second leg against Royal Antwerp.
Zungu came off the bench late on, but it was Patterson’s introduction that generated the most headlines. The 19-year-old replaced Leon Balogun at half-time, and within seconds of the restart he had scored his first goal for the club as they headed towards a 5-2 win.
In his Record Sport column on Saturday, Celtic legend Chris Sutton said: “Rangers are massively guilty of double standards”, adding: “if I were Jordan Jones and George Edmundson, I’d be feeling betrayed.
“Those two were hung out. Suspended by the club pending an investigation we were told on an official statement. Punted down the road to England.
“Yet the other boys did the same thing and were put straight back into the squad as soon as their isolation period was up.”
As quoted by the Scottish Sun on Wednesday, Gerrard said: “The boys are back within the group and it’s important to say they are not being treated any differently to the previous two.
“Contrary to what I’ve read in certain reports, they have been dealt with exactly the same way 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 the exact same amount in terms of weeks’ wages.
“I told them all the same in terms of what I thought, and that they had a second chance to play for Rangers again.
“I think the only difference is 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 no one is being treated differently from anyone else. That’s important for me to get that across.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
