“This isn’t about being dependent on the Old Firm. The fact of the matter is that this is the world we live in and the clubs need that money. That’s why everyone bar Celtic has skin in Wednesday’s match. Celtic would lose money in the short term if Rangers qualified because them dropping into the Europa League would hand Celtic a big financial advantage. Even so, they should want them to progress because, with ourselves and Dundee United already out of Europe and Hearts losing to FC Zurich on Thursday, Rangers joining would help improve our coefficient and give them a better chance of automatically going into the group phase in the years to come. For everyone else, it’s a helping hand at a time when costs are soaring, particularly on matchdays. Rising gas and electricity prices have made things you might take for granted – floodlights, food kiosks, stadium lighting, energy and staffing levels – far more expensive. There are huge pressures on us at the moment: we’re being squeezed from every side and any additional income would be welcome. At a time when clubs are due to have their annual audit, it would be great to be able to say in that report that there will be £600,000 definitely arriving in the bank in 12 months’ time. For some clubs, that might be enough to prevent the ‘going concern’ notice being added by auditors to their forecast.”