Hearts Admit £2m Annual Shortfall

Hearts director Sergejus Fedotovas has admitted that the club is seeking a "short-term" fix to stave off the threat of liquidation.

The Scottish Cup holders have been issued with a winding-up order after failing to pay a £450,000 tax bill.

The club will face liquidation should they fail to pay the full amount to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs by Wednesday, although they could avert that danger by voluntarily going into administration.

Hearts are also facing a further court hearing over a £1.7m revenue case and Fedotovas has told Sky Sports News that the club's finances are grave.

"It's £8m in costs against £6m coming in this year and the previous year was even harder than that. Every penny is included in this and there is still a gap."

The SPL team has asked fans to help by taking up a £1.8m share issue and supporters have also been urged to buy tickets for the three forthcoming home games.

"We are having a good response from the fans, from the people who really care about our club," Fedotovas told reporters at Tynecastle.

"It's far from enough at the moment but the progress is good and if we continue this then we'll be fine."

Hearts have also confirmed they're negotiating a deal with the club's owner, Vladimir Romanov, although it appears the Lithuanian businessman would want any investment to be repaid.

"We have had some promising response," admitted Fedotovas, who is the closest figure to Romanov on the Hearts board.

"They say they will look at ways to help us out. Obviously not immediately, they require a certain time. At the end of the day any funding will have to be paid back."

Should Hearts opt to enter administration then the club has admitted it will be docked 17 points by the Scottish Premier League, which would send them bottom of the table on -4 points.