ROMAN ROMANOV, the Hearts chairman and acting chief executive, angrily denied last night that top players like Andy Webster, Craig Gordon and Rudi Skacel could be set to leave the club when the transfer window opens in January.

Hearts supporters were concerned after Stewart Fraser, the club's financial director, stated in a letter to shareholders that such drastic action may have to happen unless the club continued to have the backing of the club's biggest single shareholder, Vladimir Romanov, and his Lithuanian based bank.

With debt that could rise to around GBP25m, there were some concerns that the good work done on the field by the players, which sees them separated from Celtic at the top only by goal difference, could be ruined if the team was broken up.

When Fraser does leaves the club's board, it will be composed solely of Lithuanians. Though he remains generally supportive of Romanov's plans he did have a word of warning for the future.

"The current working capital needs of the business are being met but only through the provision by UBIG [a section of Romanov's bank] of additional short-term facilities, currently amounting to GBP2.3m which are repayable not later than Jan 31, " stated Fraser.

"In the absence of continuing support from UBIG and its associates, or from any third party source, the Hearts board will need to take radical action which may include, amongst other things, the sale of player contracts. It is essential we have certainty as to the availability of resources to meet this requirement as soon as is practicably possible."

Roman Romanov did tried to quell supporters' fears last night, insisting that his father was not thinking about pulling the rug from under the feet of Hearts.

"There will be no January sales at Tynecastle and the only reason any player would be sold is if we were guaranteeing a player of similar or better quality would be joining the squad, " he said. "Clearly there are many clubs that would want us to sell our top players.

However the players, fans and staff are all in this together and we have ambitions that many people outside the club are finding it difficult to deal with.

"The loans from UBIG will in no way jeopardise the quality and strength of the team. We cannot talk in any detail about the finances of the club as we are in a closed period prior to the public announcement of our annual results and so it would be inappropriate to say more than that at this stage."

Hearts supporters' appetite forwatching the team continues unabated, though, with news that the club expects to sell its full allocation of 1800 tickets for the match in Aberdeen on Sunday.

That will be good news for new head coach, Graham Rix, who has had a difficult time since he was appointed last week. Many were against his appointment because he has a conviction for having unlawful sex with an under-age girl.

Jamie McAllister, the Hearts' midfielder, said yesterday: "I would ask the supporters to get behind the team and the manager and to give him a chance.

The first training session he took with the full squad was very enjoyable.

"He is gradually making his mark on the team. You can see the enthusiasm he has for the game and training was at a fast tempo and everybody seemed to enjoy it. He is not one to revolutionise the whole system here and I think he thinks if something isn't broken, don't fix it.

"There has been a lot of changes at the club in a short time but I don't think it has disrupted the players. We get paid to play for the club and keep our focus and that is what we have been doing."

McAllister spent four years playing for Aberdeen and realises the Hearts coach will face a baptism of fire when he leads Hearts out at Pittodrie on Sunday.

"Graham is an experienced coach and players like Mark Burchill speak very highly of his abilities, both as a coach and as a man. Going to Pittodrie is a difficult first match for him but we all realise just how important it is for everybody and want to take something from the game."