Roy MacGregor expects it will become increasingly difficult for Ross County to compete with Scotland’s elite clubs after securing Premiership safety.
The Staggies will play top-flight football for a fifth successive campaign, after coming through a dramatic play-off against Partick Thistle.
County found themselves three goals down in the tie with only 19 minutes of Sunday’s second leg at Victoria Park remaining.
After clawing the tie back to take it to extra-time and penalties, the Staggies ultimately triumphed 5-4 on spot-kicks.
The carrot of European football has provided a huge financial incentive for clubs at the top end of the league, with Aberdeen guaranteed group stage action as a result of finishing third this term.
MacGregor says bottom-half clubs must be wary of falling into the trap of overspending to try and plug the gap.
The Staggies chairman says his club are among a number in the division who must take care to cut their cloth, which he in turn reckons will lead to a greater gulf within the league.
MacGregor said: “It is getting harder because the city teams are getting stronger.
“We have five teams in Europe – Hibs got in as well.
“All the teams in the bottom six will question their budgets for next season.
“We have all been dragged by the city teams, who after 10 years have got their acts together.
“Financially, they are more sound.
“If you get into Europe like Hearts, their budget was up to £10 or £11 million.
“The other clubs are down at £2 to 2.5 million so it’s a dogfight down there. The league doesn’t lie and St Mirren have done really well to get up to sixth.
“You have to have exceptional leadership on and off the park.
“I am hearing on the grapevine the other so-called community teams overspent, as we did, to try and get in there.
“There probably has to be some realism for the bottom teams and that might mean a bigger gap.”
Staggies aiming to learn lessons from difficult campaign
County had to go through the play-offs for the first time since they were introduced in 2014, after finishing second bottom of the Premiership.
It came after Malky Mackay had guided the Staggies to a top-six finish in the previous campaign.
MacGregor believes there are lessons to be learned in how the Dingwall outfit approach next term.
He added: “It could have big consequences. We have had the privilege of being in the Premiership all but one season in the last 11 years.
“It is a great place to be.
“A lot of us dream – we got sixth last season and could we go better?
“We brought in better technical players… but we maybe lost a wee bit of our soul.
“Now we need to examine that to get the balance right.
“We finished 11th in the league and that is something we will look to improve on.”
Highlands retains Premiership presence
MacGregor is thrilled the Staggies have ensured top-flight football will remain in the Highlands next season.
He added: “Sometimes you need to control ambition and be realistic.
“For this part of the world, the people of the Highlands, we need to have one team in the Premiership.
“We’ve stuck at it. I was proud of Inverness in the Scottish Cup final because they did so well also.”
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