Killie revealed a one-year, six-figure sponsorship agreement with Strathaven-based engineering firm QTS which will stabilise their short-term finances in conjunction with confirmation Sky will continue their Scottish Premier League TV deal, with ESPN set to follow suit. However, striker Paul Heffernan faces at least eight weeks out after suffering an injury in training on Tuesday. Dean Shiels also left for Rangers on Tuesday, while his father, Kilmarnock manager Kenny Shiels, revealed veteran Garry Hay faces a knee operation. Shiels, whose team host Dundee in Saturday's SPL opener, said: "It's been a great 24 hours with the news, but from the playing side of things it was a disaster because we lost all our goals in one day. "We lost Dean Shiels to Rangers and Paul Heffernan for up to three months with a broken collarbone. "That's 30 goals and 20 assists, practically all our goals from last season, gone. "Dean is pleased but we have to move on at Kilmarnock. It's a void that we have to fill and it's going to be difficult. "Garry Hay is to go for an operation as well, so we are down to the bare minimum. "I don't know how long he will be out, maybe a couple of months." Chairman Michael Johnston does not expect the financial lift to allow an influx of signings. Only left-back Jeroen Tesselaar and former Livingston forward Rory Boulding have arrived this summer. But there may be scope for bringing in a striker, at least in the short term. Johnston said: "We were at an advanced stage with Dean Shiels - we were close to reaching agreement with him. "He was keen to stay and unfortunately because we put that on hold, ironically Rangers came along and were able to make him a much better offer. "We wish him the best and hopefully he will be back at Kilmarnock one day in the blue and white stripes." Johnston predicts the loss of Rangers from the SPL ahead of their liquidation will cost his club about ?300,000 a year, but Heffernan's injury could release the purse strings to some extent. "That raised the prospect of singing a striker at least on loan and at least until the January transfer window to allow Paul the time to recover and get back to match fitness," Johnston said. "There are always events that cause you to review plans. "But we have an excellent squad of young players. "We have 19 senior players and 16 under-20 players - and there are four of five of them who already have first-team experience."
