Jack Baldwin has experienced both outcomes from a relegation battle – and he is desperate to avoid further hurt with Ross County.
In his early years at Hartlepool United – under late former Staggies boss Neale Cooper – defender Baldwin experienced both an escape and a demotion.
He also suffered the drop with Bristol Rovers in 2021, shortly prior to his switch to Victoria Park.
Baldwin is in a midst of another survival battle with County, who are four points adrift at the foot of the Premiership ahead of today’s match against Livingston.
Although he has experienced many highs in his career, Baldwin insists the low points are difficult to shake off.
He said: “In the first couple of years of my career, I was at Hartlepool and we were always fighting near the bottom.
“The first season, we escaped, but the second season we suffered it. I was 18 or 19, only my second season, so it was ‘welcome to professional football’.
“It isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but valuable experience.
“Before I came up here I suffered relegation at Bristol Rovers. I came up here and finished in the top six, which was a great experience.
“It is not a nice place to be, fighting relegation, and it is not a nice thing to have on your CV as a footballer.”
Staggies must lean on experience to find way out of trouble
County are in desperate need of points, with just five games of the campaign remaining.
They are aiming to bounce back from a crushing 6-1 loss against Hearts in their last outing a fortnight ago.
Given the predicament Malky Mackay’s men are in, 29-year-old Baldwin aims to play a leading role in the Staggies’ dressing room.
Baldwin added: “After certain games, we’ve had those chats as a group.
“There are people like myself who have experienced the wrong end of the battle and you’re really trying to get through to the guys who haven’t experienced that, it is not something you want.
“It is a big stain on your CV for sure.
“We’re an experienced group and we have lads in there who know what it is about.
“We’ll drag everyone through and stick together. At the end of the day, that’s all we can do. That’s how we will get out of it.
“They say you learn from mistakes and failures in your career are always a lesson. Without that experience, you don’t get the perspective of the flipside.
“You try and put that across as much as you can to the guys who haven’t been there.
“The only positive thing is you know how bad it feels and don’t want it to happen again.”
County looking to string momentum together in final push
Baldwin says the Staggies must strive for a run of momentum in the closing stretch, which has proved elusive all season.
He added: “We’ve lacked consistency throughout the season, maybe winning a couple of games and then facing an international break or put in good performances and then went to Celtic Park or Ibrox.
“We’ve always seemed to get a couple of results together and then something has come up and we’ve not managed to kick on to that next stage.
“It is the business end now and a time when hopefully we can get some momentum and really put in that run.
“No-one is due anything in this game, but if there was veer a time to do it, it would be now, definitely.”
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