Hearts manager Paulo Sergio is unsure whether his players can continue to rise to the occasion while they live with the uncertainty over when they can next expect to get their wages.
The Tynecastle side have Dunfermline as their visitors on Saturday with the players' November salaries long overdue and December's pay due on Friday.
The money-worries appear to be affecting performances on the field as Hearts have recorded five defeats in seven games since the first-team squad first suffered delayed payment of their wages in mid-October.
Sergio feels it will be hard for the players to replicate Saturday's' performance (against Celtic) when they meet the Pars.
Sergio did not hang back when he turned to the club's official website to air his views.
He said: "All this negativity around us is not good and it's not good for our heads too. The players deserved better than what they got from the game (at Celtic). It's not difficult to motivate players in a moment like this to play Celtic, to play big games.
I hope they're able to do the same against Dunfermline. They're not one of the biggest in Scotland but we should respect them the same and be very focused on this game.
We need three points. I believe we deserve more than we are getting from the games."
While the manager managed to stall the players from making an official complaint over the wages issue last month but it looks like the players will be asking the SPL to take up their case.
Wages are due on the 16th of each month, but October's salary was received on 4 November and last month's salary remains outstanding, while December's payment date is just three days away with no indication of when the overdue wages will be received.
The players received a £1,000 part-payment last week from funds generated from the loss to St Johnstone at Tynecastle, but many are contracted for five times that amount and more in a week.
Sergio is attempting to remain optimistic, but players are plotting their escape in January.
Sergio added: "We have to still work and still think positive that things are going to change in a hard moment for everybody."
The players would be entitled to invoke FIFA's article 14 and leave Hearts by breach of contract should they have to go 90 days without payment, with14 January being the key date, as the players have signed contracts which adhere to FIFA regulations and cannot be over-ridden by employment law.
Employment lawyer Duncan McFadzean, a partner at ELP Solicitors in Edinburgh, said: "FIFA rules that govern the situation could trump what employment law says in itself. They would take priority."
Some players have already left or are poised for an imminent departure - announcements have already been made about goalkeeper Janos Balogh, striker Calum Elliot, both of whom will be leaving in January by mutual consent.
Midfielder Rudi Skacel is out of contract in January and he may be the next one out of the door.
Players leaving under FIFA regulations would then have to work through the inevitable legal battle to get what they are currently owed.
It might also be challenging for the players to get a new club in the current climate, with finances stretched throughout Scottish football, particularly in mid-season.
In the meantime, Hearts appear destined to fulfil their fixtures, with Sergio hoping the support of the club's fans can help the players through this troubled time.
Sergio said: "I would like to have a full Tynecastle. I think our players deserve that our supporters show to the world how strong they are, how much they are together in this moment."
Source: FOOTYMAD
