RANGERS admitted last night they were “surprised” and “disappointed” after an SPFL tribunal upheld Lee Wallace and Kenny Miller’s disciplinary appeal about the way the club imposed sanctions on them for their part in an alleged dressing room row following last season’s Scottish Cup semi-final.

Wallace was hit with the maximum four-week penalty for his part in an alleged incident with former manager Graeme Murty after the 4-0 defeat to Celtic, while Miller – who never played for the club again – was ordered to pay back two weeks’ worth of cash from his final Ibrox pay packet.

Both men, who were told to stay away from the club, argued that no bust-up had taken place and took their case to the SPFL, the tribunal eventually ruling in their favour. Rangers said they were startled by the outcome and annoyed that details appeared to have been leaked to the press before they were officially informed of the ruling. They would take some time before deciding on their next steps.

“The club is surprised by the decision of the SPFL’s Tribunal on this matter and disappointed that the decision seems to have been leaked before the club were advised of it by the SPFL,” the statement read.

“Decisions on such matters deal largely with procedural issues, not the conduct which gave rise to the club’s sanctions.

The club was only presented with a 40 plus page decision after 4pm this afternoon and will now take some time to consider matters before deciding how to proceed."

"It's not anywhere near an end so I have to keep my own counsel at the moment and deal with it when the time is right," said Miller, now back playing at Dundee following a short-lived stint as Livingston player/manager, in a radio interview with BBC Scotland. Wallace, who has a year remaining on his current Ibrox deal, has returned to the first-team squad under Steven Gerrard, but was yesterday omitted from the club’s Europa League squad.