Nathan Patterson could be available this evening for Rangers' clash with St Johnstone as the club continue to await the result of their appeal against his ban.

The defender faces a six match suspension, two suspended, following his Covid protocol breach alongside four of his Ibrox teammates. Gers appealed the ban and the SFA have not yet issued their decision.

That allowed Patterson to play, and star, against Celtic in his side's 2-0 win in the Scottish Cup last weekend. And it looks unlikely the situation will be resolved before Gers visit McDiarmid Park this evening, meaning Patterson could be involved once again.

The SFA have been accused of taking too long to issue their response to the appeal. Celtic recently issued a statement demanding 'transparency and consistency' after it took two months for the governing body to come to their conclusion.

The Hoops were furious after the SFA banned Boli Bolingoli earlier this season with a much quicker process.

Celtic said: "There have been a number of calls for ‘consistency’ this season – we couldn’t agree more. The SFA has dealt with other cases swiftly this season and only they can explain the timing in this case.

“We have therefore sought clarification from the Scottish FA so that Scottish football can understand the approach in disciplinary cases, in the interests of transparency and consistency.”

Bongani Zungu could also feature this evening as could Calvin Bassey who were two other sinners alongside Dapo Mebude and Brian Kinnear.