Hearts legend Jim Jefferies knows relegation from the top-flight will be heart-breaking but the former manager and captain hopes a mouth-watering Championship can temper that pain.
Jefferies wore the armband when Hearts last fell through the trap-door in 1981 and, depending on results in the coming days, the present squad could suffer the same fate this week.
The administration-hit outfit are effectively resigned to being condemned to dropping down a rung after failing to cope with a crippling 15-point penalty and signing restrictions.
Jefferies’ Dunfermline side are hoping to join League One title winners Rangers in making the jump into the Championship next season and the experienced coach reckons Scotland’s second tier could offer as much as excitement as the Premiership.
Jefferies said: “It was a terrible thing being captain of Hearts when we got relegated.
“It will be painful and no one wants to be relegated but that Championship will be a cracker, and I think it might take some of the spotlight away from the Premiership.
“If we could get there it would be great, we would have Fife derbies against the likes of Raith Rovers then you would have Hearts and Rangers that’s what spurs us on.
“Sometimes clubs can accept relegation but when you’re at a club like Hearts it’s a sickening feeling, but all you want to do is put it right and bounce back quickly and I’m sure, if Hearts go down, that’s what they’ll do.
“They’ll have a tough league to do it in because Rangers will probably improve. I think Rangers will find it tough but they will look to bring in some players. It will be tough league.”