Ross County striker Jordan White send out ‘no need to panic’ message after defeat to Aberdeen leaves Staggies looking over shoulders at Premiership’s relegation play-off spot
Jordan White insists there is no need to panic as Ross County slipped to within reach of the Premiership’s relegation play-off spot.
The Staggies striker featured in the club’s 1-0 defeat to Aberdeen in Dingwall on Saturday, with only Shayden Morris’ wondergoal separating the two sides.
Off the pitch, there were several other blows for County. First, the club confirmed that creative midfielder Noah Chilvers had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, meaning he is unlikely to feature again in 2025.
Then, results elsewhere went against the Highlanders, with Kilmarnock, Dundee and St Johnstone all picking up victories.
It is a battle that White and his tenured teammates are well acquainted with, having survived a play-off in each of the last two campaigns, and he has highlighted the need for cool heads going into the last six games of the season.
“We’ve experienced this fight before, but we don’t want to experience it again if we’re being honest,” White reasoned.
“We’ve put ourselves in a good position in terms of points – it’s more than we’ve had at the end of the last two seasons – so things can change quickly.
“Things went against us this weekend, but if things go our way next Saturday then we’re saying it’s a good season again.
“The last two games especially have been fine margins. We lost a goal out of nothing against Aberdeen, and it was a set-piece against Dundee United, so that’s what’s disappointing.
“A few weeks ago, we were the team picking up the goal to make it 1-0 and get the points. Sometimes one goal is enough in this league, that’s how tight it is right now, so we might need a bit of luck right now but all we can do is get back to training and work hard.
“Let’s not sugarcoat it, St Mirren is probably one of the toughest places to go in the league. We got a point last time, and it probably wasn’t the best of games but it’s just about picking up as many points as we can to get back on track.
“We want to go into the last five games with momentum, which we don’t have much of right now, but I genuinely didn’t think there was much in the game against Aberdeen so it’s just about not panicking and going again.”
It could be an ever-changing picture in the final weeks of the 2024/25 campaign, with just four points currently separating Dundee in 11th from Hearts in sixth.
That means whoever ends up in the bottom six will be in a race to avoid the play-off, with St Johnstone also resurgent at the bottom of the table as they attempt to reel more teams into danger of automatic relegation.
County, much to fans’ concern, are on the worst form in the division over their last five games, but White does not think the pressure of their current predicament will get to the players.
“We’ve maybe just lost our confidence a wee bit going forward,” he added.
“We have shown in spells that we can score goals, because we have scored three quite a few times this season, so as a team we can do it. We’re just going through a rough patch at the minute.
“Personally, I certainly haven’t lost confidence. I feel fine, but sometimes when you go on a run where you’re not getting the wins you were getting a few weeks before, it can be tough.
“When teams are winning around about us, it’s a pressure point in the season, so that comes into play too.
“You would need to ask everyone else, but I think I’ve been here long enough to be able to deal with it.
“Everyone is different, so we maybe just need to take a bit more responsibility on the pitch. I personally try to do that, and I try to get that out of other people, and it’s important at this stage in the season that someone stands up and says ‘I’ll be the one to make it happen’.
“There are still a lot of points to play for, and we’re in a much better position than we have been in previous years. We just have to keep working hard in training and not feel sorry for ourselves.”