HibERNIAN manager Pat Fenlon wants to see Hearts avoid relegation this season after insisting that the Edinburgh clubs need each other to flourish.

Ahead of today's first derby of the campaign, at Tynecastle, the Dubliner has no qualms in saying he hopes the Gorgie club can overcome their 15-point penalty.

The majority of Hibs fans are not as sympathetic towards their counterparts' plight after watching departed owner Vladimir Romanov spend millions on players that the Easter Road could not afford.

That came to a head in June when Hearts entered administration.

Fenlon, however, believes the loss of Hearts from the SPFL Premiership would be another blow to the Easter Road finances just 12 months after losing the lucrative fixtures against Rangers.

Fenlon, whose side can open up an 18-point gap on Gary Locke's side with victory this afternoon, said: "I would like to see Hearts stay up, it's important for us as a club. It is a lot of money for both clubs with the two derbies.

"I think it's close to being a sell-out and when they come here it's 16-17,000 as well, so over the course of the season that's a lot of money for both clubs.

"And if you want to progress and bring better players in then your revenue streams have to be good, and that's one way of bringing in some money.

"We have already lost Rangers and I think most of the clubs have had to adapt to that. It was a big blow with them going out because they do bring a big crowd through. It's the same with ourselves and Hearts.

"It's important revenue to Hearts at the weekend and it's important revenue for us during the course of the season.

"You don't want to see any football club go out of business, that's for certain. Are Hearts paying for overspending? There is a piece of that, there is the saying that you make your bed and lie in it. That's the way it is at times, not just for football but every walk of life."

Fenlon has experienced polar emotions in his matches against Hearts. Hibs enjoyed an unbeaten five-game run against their rivals last season, winning twice, but the 5-1 drubbing by Hearts in the 2012 William Hill Scottish Cup final remains the club's nadir.

He added: "I'm glad it's still around, it's the big game. We no longer have the Old Firm derby with Rangers out of it so this is the next biggest one from the support point of view and it's great it's still there. I love them, it's why you want to be involved in football.

"You're going into the lions' den and that's what gets the pulses going when you go into fixtures like that. It's tremendous to look forward to and if you're a player and a coach and you don't enjoy going there, then you're in the wrong business."

Fenlon, who does not have his own problems to seek after coming under pressure from fans for Hibs' 9-0 aggregate defeat by Malmo in the Europa League qualifying rounds, has a fair idea of what Hearts counterpart Locke is experiencing after encountering severe financial problems in 2006 during his time at Shelbourne.

He added: "I don't really think about what Hearts are going through to be honest, I've got enough to think about here.

"I've been in those situations and I know what it's like. It's like any situation, it's difficulty for anybody whether you're a footballer or builder, it's not a nice situation to be in.

"We were never in an insolvency event as such at Shelbourne, we got to a situation where we maybe had not been paid for 12 weeks.

"Shelbourne paid their debts and they're still going so that's great credit to them. From my point of view, when players are not being paid, that's difficult because you're the one that has brought them to the club so it's hard to deal with."