Rothes manager Ross Jack admitted he was shocked by the lengthy bans handed out to two of his players for breaching gambling rules.
Defender Dale Wood has been hit with a 20-game ban, while goalkeeper Robert Donaldson received a 12-game suspension after being cited by the Scottish FA.
Wood was found guilty of breaching disciplinary rule 31 in each of the past five seasons, while Donaldson’s breaches took place in each of the last eight seasons.
Rothes boss Jack said: “It has hit us like a ton of bricks.
“I don’t condone it but if the SFA are doing their due diligence and being transparent then there will be a few other teams worried about what is going on.
“I don’t want other players to be banned but everyone has to be treated the same.
“We just have to deal with it as best we can.
“It is going to hammer us as we are going to be without two players for a very lengthy period of games.
“We need to readdress, get some players in and move on.
“I was absolutely shocked when I found out how long they had been banned for.
“I don’t understand the severity of the ban.
“It is tough to take but we will have to deal with it as best we can.”
Wood and Donaldson’s lengthy bans comes just days after Cove Rangers director Grant Moorhouse and youth coach Gary Hake were punished for breaching Scottish FA gambling rules.
Moorhouse was fined £2,000 – £500 of which was suspended – for offences dating back eight seasons, while Hake was banned for eight games with four suspended for breaches over the past three seasons.
