IS being unable to fulfil a single Premiership fixture due to having 24 players ruled out through injury or suspension worse than fielding an illegally registered striker in more than 20 matches in a Premiership season?

Perhaps understandably, Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson has been feeling a little aggrieved since West Ham avoided a points deduction and were hit with a record £5.5m fine last weekend after being found guilty of acting improperly over the transfers of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

Boro are understood to be one of six Premier League clubs considering legal action over the decision not to impose a points deduction on the Hammers.

Although the two cases are different, and West Ham would undoubtedly argue that there has been no precedent set in previous years, Boro lost millions when they were forced to relinquish top-flight status in 1997 after the deduction of three points for failing to field a team at Blackburn on December 20, 1996.

The following month the Premier League disciplinary panel concluded that Boro, despite the incredible shortage of players, 'did not have just cause' to call off the match.

The three points lost proved vital as Boro dropped out of the top-flight by two points.

West Ham may not have postponed a fixture but they have taken improper actions to recruit the services of two very highly-talented South American footballers.

The Hammers admitted to the independent three-man inquiry that they broke Premiership transfer regulations last August. They failed to inform Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore that both players were still owned by football broker Kia Joorabchian and his MSI agency.

Although the agreement only came to light when Mascherano moved to Liverpool in January, the Premiership rule that forbids the ownership of any player by a third party with the ability to influence the running of a team was broken.

Following the appointment of Alan Curbishley as manager, Tevez has played a large part in the survival push. In his 17 league starts he has contributed to securing 20 points. Take those away and West Ham would sit rooted to the foot of the table, on the same number of points (15) that Sunderland went down with last May.

Coming down that hard would be harsh on a board, with new owner Eggert Magnusson at the helm, who have had little to do with such underhand transfer movement.

Nevertheless it is also fair to argue in favour of Boro, Sheffield United, Fulham, Wigan and Charlton. If two of those were to go down and West Ham were to stay up, who would then be the fall-guys for the previous board's inability to run the club in accordance with the rules? Not those in east London

Tevez has gone on to score four goals since the turn of March, helping secure six points, and he was influential in gaining another vital victory at Wigan last weekend despite not adding to his tally.

In a case not too dissimilar earlier this season lower down the ladder, AFC Wimbledon were initially handed an 18-point deduction for not gaining international clearance before fielding Jermaine Darlington.

An FA appeal board reduced that to three points and handed out a £400 fine. Although the Dons would not have been able to pay a £5.5m fine, the Ryman League front-runners did not break any rules intentionally.

The Premier League and the Football Association maintain the decision has been made and no further sanctions are to be imposed.

Is that likely to appease Gibson and the rest of the Premiership? Definitely not.