Revealed: Why Nottingham Forest were hit with a four-point deduction

Nottingham Forest's early admission of guilt and collaboration with the Premier League contributed to the club receiving a lesser sanction than Everton for breaching financial rules.

Forest were hit with a four point deduction on Monday after breaching Premier League's Profit and Sustainability rules.

The punishment sees Forest drop into the relegation zone as they now sit 18th in the Premier League table on 21 points, a point behind Luton in 17th. An appeal will likely follow.

Forest are the second team to be docked points this season, with Everton initially receiving a 10-point deduction earlier in the campaign.

The penalty was later reduced to six points following an appeal.

The Independent Commission ruling on Forest's case acknowledged it could 'see merit in adopting' the Appeal Board's approach in Everton's case.

A three point deduction was viewed as the entry point for a significant breach of the rules, but noted the Toffees case had 'a couple of factors that moved it up the scale to a starting point of six points.'

The factors were considered to be the size of the breach and 'incorrect' information provided to the Premier League.

In Nottingham Forest's case, the club were found to have had larger breach than Everton, having breached rules by £34.5m compared to the Toffees £19.5m.

This led to Forest's sanction being increased to six points, but there was no additional consideration around incorrect information being provided.

'The Commission does not know how the three extra points were arrived at by the Appeal Board for Everton, but some part of those three points must relate to the provision of incorrect information,' the Commission added.

While Everton had denied breaching the spending rules for a long period after they