Andrew McKinlay issues Hearts fan ticket warning over future Hampden allocations as he makes Rangers sell out plea

Andrew McKinlay has warned Hearts fans they may not get an even Hampden split in future if they fail to sell out their Scottish Cup semi-final allocation.

Jambos chiefs stood their ground in negotiations with Rangers and the Scottish FA to ensure 50/50 ticket arrangement for the Hampden showdown on Sunday April 20. Record Sport revealed this week that as of Wednesday they were still 5000 short, which means a six figure bill for the Tynecastle club after agreeing to cover the cost of any unsold tickets.

CEO McKinlay offered a sales update on Thursday, with a further 1000 briefs snapped up by punters in 48 hours. But he's made a plea for them to keep buying to get the remaining seats filled and makes sure Steven Naismith's men run out to a sea of maroon at the national stadium in their bid to reach a fourth final in six years.

"We've got about 4000 left to sell and as has been well documented, we fought hard to get half the ground," he told Hearts TV. "Why did we do that? One, because we think it's important and fair. But also, we think it will be massive for the team to come out, look around and see half that ground full of maroon.

"Therefore, it's really important for us to fill that. It's also important for those that have already put their hands in their pockets to thank them for doing that. There are over 16,000 of them who have already done that and that's not to be sniffed at.

"Yes there will be a cost to us if we don't do that. That has been talked about. But more importantly for me is that if we don't do it, then in the future we may struggle to get half the stadium. I think it's vitally important that we do do that so we can get half the stadium.

"I know people are struggling financially at the moment and I know