Fighting five: Naismith and Whittaker join group taking legal action against Rangers

Five former Rangers players have launched legal action against the Ibrox club for 'constructive dismissal' during the turbulent battle for survival in the summer.



Steven Naismith and Steven Whittaker have joined Kyle Lafferty, Sone Aluko and Jamie Ness in taking newco Rangers to an employment tribunal over the circumstances that led them to leave the club.



The players had exercised what they believed to be their right to leave under Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE) legislation after the Rangers oldco folded following the mismanagement of disgraced former owner Craig Whyte.



I quit: Steven Naismith (centre) left Rangers for Everton in the summer

Ibrox chief executive Charles Green has always maintained that by not transferring their contracts to the newco, the players were acting outwith football's legal framework when they walked out over the summer.



He sought to block their moves, but Naismith left for Everton, Lafferty joined Swiss side Sion, Whittaker signed for Norwich, Aluko moved to Hull City, and Ness signed on at Stoke.

In a bid to collect £1.5million for Goodison forward Naismith, however, Green previously launched legal action against the five transferring their registrations - with those cases set to be arbitrated by the SFA in the New Year.



The latest move is a clear indication the players are biting back, with their legal action against Rangers potentially damaging to the Third Division club.



Much of the detail was revealed within the share prospectus launched last week, although Whittaker's and Naismith's decision is a new development.



Down south: Steven Whittaker is now plying his trade with Norwich City

Rangers insisted they will defend the claim and stated in the prospectus: 'They claim constructive dismissal. (Rangers Football Club Ltd) has challenged the right of these players to bring such claims for a number of separate jurisdictional reasons, but in any event these are low value claims.'



Rangers believe the claims have been made 'for tactical purposes' relating to the dispute over the transfer of their registration.



Meanwhile, news that 67 unnamed current and former Rangers players are involved in legal action against the club has been played down by a senior source as a 'red herring'.



The development came to light only yesterday despite also being included in the Ibrox share prospectus. It relates to the transfer of player contracts between the oldco and newco Rangers after the sale of the club's assets to Green's consortium.



The action, relating to a failure by Rangers to 'inform and consult', was launched in the summer. Sportsmail understands, however, that players who have since signed new deals at Rangers, such as captain Lee McCulloch, have waived their right to mount a challenge.



McCulloch took to Twitter last night to say: 'For everyone asking, I'm not involved in the 67 people and if my name is there it will be getting taken off.'



Bolton's Gregg Wylde, who is on loan at Bury, also said he was not involved. In the prospectus, the Ibrox club challenged PFA Scotland's right to bring a claim on behalf of those 67 players.



