Jim Jefferies going full tilt despite budget cut

Following discussions with majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov last week, Jefferies is prepared for his budget dropping at the end of the season in line with clubs across the country.

However, he remains unperturbed over the prospect and said Hearts' wages will still be amongst the best in Scotland.

"I think he (Romanov] has gone on record as saying that it's a change, in terms of bringing the wage bill down," said Jefferies. "That's maybe one of the reasons I am here, to get the wage bill down and still get the players to build a side that can be successful.

"I've been in this game long enough, I keep going to chairmen and they keep telling me to cut wage bills. That's not a problem. This one is a bit easier than the last one (at Kilmarnock]. The wage bill will still be a good wage bill. Sometimes you go to other clubs and wonder how you will do it.

"Even cutting the wage bill down it will be still be good. Even if I halved the wage bill here it would be a decent wage bill to expect the team to do extremely well."