Livingston boss Davie Martindale admits drawing Rangers in the Viaplay Cup has thrown him a financial lifeline.
Martindale is desperate to cut costs by getting the likes of Esmael Gonçalves and Scott Bitsindou off the wage bill following losses of over £800,000 last year.
But if that does not happen before the transfer window closes next week, Martindale’s disappointment will be tempered by knowing they will bring in around £250,000 from travelling to Ibrox for September’s cup quarter-final.
He said: “Getting the draw at Ibrox gives us a wee bit of comfort that if these players don’t move in the January it’s not going to have a huge dent on ourselves going forwards.
“We can absorb those costs slightly. It takes a wee bit less pressure off us in terms of having to move two or three players on.
"Ideally you want to do that but I’ve not then got the other side to bring players in because the potential cup draw money you will get is only going to help the club in terms of projected losses going forwards.
"It shows you how big the Ayr game was now in the last round.
“Four years out of five we’ve been in the quarter-finals and three out of those four were against Rangers, two at Ibrox and the one we weren’t was Ross County where we reached the final.
“It’s probably income you’ve become semi reliant on but you’re not guaranteed. It’s in the actual turnover for that end of year but you’re not guaranteeing it the following year.
“We lost to Dundee United last year and it’s a potentially £300,000 loss by not reaching the quarter-finals compared to the previous year.”
Talk of the club’s financial health comes after chairman John Ward claimed last week that potential investors were being put off by a boardroom civil war.
It was also reported that an unnamed American group had a £400,000 buyout bid rejected by Livingston’s holding company Opcco 6.
Martindale has made it clear that investment is needed if the club is to challenge for top six football, especially with their Premiership rivals getting stronger.
Martindale, whose team travel to Hibs on Saturday, said: “I don’t even know if it’s a takeover but we need investment. But if you go around every club - maybe Celtic is the only club in a situation where they’re not looking for external investment because their business model’s fantastic.
“Rangers’ directors dig into their pockets, at Aberdeen they do that to give them a fighting budget.
How much do fans put into Hearts and then you look at Ann Budge and James Anderson.
"Hibs - look at what the Gordon family have done. You can go down the Premiership.
“I find most teams are growing and getting stronger so that gap is getting bigger and it’s harder to bridge that gap on the finances.
“Hand on heart, our wage bill has gone down by £150,000-£200,000 this year but you still have to be competitive on the park.
“I would argue the top six have had their wage budgets going up.
“Having investors in the club allows them to do that and we’re fairly hamstrung in terms of our flexibility.”
