Dundee United are expected to be stripped of their win over Inverness Caley Thistle after fielding youngster Ali Coote as a sub on Friday night.
An SPFL disciplinary panel is expected to discuss the rule breach on Wednesday after Coote came on for the last 13 minutes against ICT.
Jamie Robson was an unused substitute and this is also believed to also be contrary to regulations.
League rules forbid players from returning from lower-league loans after March 31 and then playing for their Premiership parent club.
The United duo were still out on loan in April, with Coote at East Fife and Robson at Brechin City.
If, as suspected, they were only re-registered with the SFA as United players on May 5 – the day before the Caley Thistle clash – they will be deemed to have been ineligible for the first-team squad.
Meanwhile, United remained in talks with Ray McKinnon last night but that hasn’t prevented two well-known coaches being linked with the vacant manager’s job.
Current Celtic assistant boss John Collins and former Hearts gaffer Csaba Laszlo are understood to have been recommended to the Tangerines as possible candidates to replace Mixu Paatelainen despite discussions still going on between United and Raith Rovers manager McKinnon.
The move for McKinnon has obviously hit a snag during talks between him and chairman Stephen Thompson but it still remains possible that he will take the job.
While the managerial saga rumbles on, United’s first-team has been placed in the charge of caretaker coach Gordon Young.
Young was in the dugout for last night’s entertaining 3-3 draw against Partick Thistle and will see out the final fixture of the season away to Kilmarnock on Saturday.
Reflecting upon the comeback against the Jags, which saw United sub Justin Johnson level in injury-time and other youngster likes Matty Smith and Harry Souttar do themselves proud, Young said: “My message to the players was that it might be their first game at Tannadice or it might be their last game so they should leave some kind of legacy.
“The young ones could give the fans some hope or for more experienced ones who could be leaving giving the fans something to talk about.”
