Nottingham Forest followed Everton to become the second team this season to be docked points by the Premier League for breaches of the Financial Fair Play rules.

It was announced on Monday night that Forest was to be hit with a four-point penalty, which results in them dropping into the relegation zone. Luton Town move into 17th place and are now one point clear of relegation.

Commenting on the announcement, Forest released a statement which read:  “After months of engagement with the Premier League, and exceptional cooperation throughout, this was unexpected and has harmed the trust and confidence we had in the Premier League.”

Forest, whose hearing into the financial breach took place on 7-8 March have until the 25th of this month to confirm if they will appeal the ruling. It looks very likely that they will.

In terms of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules clubs can lose a maximum of GBP105m over three seasons – an average of GBP35m per campaign. The Forest scenario is tricky because they spent two of the three years under review in the Championship – but they did have a whopping net transfer spend of GBP142.8m, as they signed 22 new players on their arrival in the Premier League.

Forest had reportedly expected a lesser fine as a result of their co-operation with the Premier League. The transfer of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham Hotspur in September was reportedly pitched as the “golden mitigation” by Forest, who maintained that selling the player in the next financial reporting period meant they got a better deal and more money.