In March, Forest was deducted four points after admitting to breaching the league's financial rules by overspending by £34.5million over a three-year assessment period ending last season.

Everton also lost eight points to two separate deductions, having been found to have breached the rules in the period culminating in 2022-23 and the period ending last campaign.

Forest's penalty dropped it into the thick of the relegation battle, with the club saying it is "extremely dismayed by the tone and content" of the Premier League's submissions to an independent commission and pledging to appeal.

Forest argued its lack of recent Premier League history placed them at a disadvantage to other clubs and said the sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham, which went through last September after the end of the assessment period, was within the "spirit" of sustainability.

The club's appeal against its penalty was heard on 24 April, but an appeal board decided to uphold the punishment, which was itself more lenient than that requested by the Premier League.

In a statement the Premier League said: "The PSR sanction applied to the assessment period ending in season 2022-23 and was appealed by the club on two grounds. 

"The club argued that the independent commission committed an error in not treating its sale of a high-profile player shortly after the assessment period as a mitigating factor, and that it committed a further error in electing not to suspend some or all of the points deduction it imposed. 

"Each of these grounds was rejected by the appeal board, which found the independent commission was entitled to immediately impose the sanction it did. The four-point deduction will therefore remain in place."

It means Forest stays 17th in the table with 29 points, having pulled three clear of 18th-placed Luton Town by beating already-relegated Sheffield United 3-1 on Saturday.

Nuno Espirito Santo's team faces Chelsea and Burnley in its final two games of 2023-2024, with Luton likely to need at least four points from meetings with West Ham and Fulham to overhaul them.

Burnley, down in 19th, needs to win its last two matches – against Tottenham and Forest – to have any chance of avoiding the drop.