Nottingham Forest have had their appeal against a four-point deduction rejected, sources have told ESPN.

The Premier League side were hit with a four-point deduction in March after the club were found to have breached Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

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Forest said at the time they were extremely disappointed with the decision and appealed, but an independent commission has dismissed their protest.

That leaves Forest in a relegation battle -- they are on 29 points, three points ahead of 18th-placed Luton. Both clubs have just two games remaining.

Earlier this season, Everton had their points deduction for breaching Premier League financial rules reduced to six points from 10 after an appeal.

Premier League regulations stipulate that a club can lose no more than 105 million ($133.6m) over a three-year period.

The rules apply differently to Forest, owing to the fact that they were in the second-tier Championship until 2022, where clubs are permitted a maximum loss of 39m ($49.6m) across three seasons or 13m ($16.6m) per season, meaning their permissible losses over the last three campaigns would add up to 61m ($77.7m).

Forest were charged in January for breaching those regulations over the period ending in the 2022-23 season.