Chairman Steve Brown admits St Johnstone are posting heavy losses with high wage bills and are in "danger of being hypocrites" after speaking in the past about living within their means.
The Perth club have given three stands at McDiarmid Park over to visiting Rangers supporters, a decision which has been criticised by some fans.
But their chairman admits a difficult financial situation has left the club with little choice but to try and maximise revenue from away fans, with the Saints supremo admitting previous advice to fellow Premiership clubs could now be seen as hypocritical.
Brown said on BBC Radio Scotland: "I know we get a hard time over the fact our crowds aren't too high.
"You'd rather spend more time praising the individuals who do go. You look at the population in Perth and I think we do okay compared with other cities.
"If we're being honest with ourselves, in the eight years we've been successful on the park and remained financially sound. The thing we've let ourselves down with is growing the fanbase, but it is a big challenge for us - and for other clubs.
"Wage inflation down south puts them up north of the border too. The wages maybe don't relate to the skill level of the player. It's too high at the moment.
"At the moment, we've over-egged it - our wage bill is sixth or seventh in the league and, we talk about the crowd, it's far too high.
"Unfortunately, we just haven't performed and that leaves a huge financial gap and concerns.
"We have got reserves, so unfortunately this year we will be hitting them in a big way and posting heavy losses, which is not good. We're in danger of being hypocrites because we have been outspoken in living within your means, and this year we're not going to do that, which is disappointing to say the least."
