Jordan White feels he has shown he is ready to play a major part in securing Ross County’s Premiership survival.
Forward White came off the bench to net a dramatic late winner in the 2-1 triumph against Hibernian, which lifted the Staggies out of the relegation play-off spot.
The result means County are out of the relegation zone for the first time since December 29.
Don Cowie’s men are now two points ahead of 11th-placed St Johnstone, with three games remaining.
Having started seven of the 17 games since the winter break, White hopes his seventh goal of the campaign has served as a reminder of the impact he can make.
White said: “It has been personally a wee bit frustrating since the turn of the year. A lot of things have happened, but sometimes you’ve just got to get on with it.
“You fight through the hard times for moments like that.
“You want to be playing all the time. But as a group, since Don has taken over, we have done really well – especially at home.
“I just needed to keep working hard and I got my reward – but it’s a reward for the team as well.
“It’s all in-house stuff. But one thing is, we are all pulling in the same direction.
“You’ve just got to keep yourself right and when the time comes, and the chance comes, you’ve got to take it.
“I was happy I did that, but we have a lot of big games coming up.”
Strong foundations being built in Dingwall
The Staggies are now undefeated in the six home matches which Cowie has taken charge of, since being appointed interim boss in February.
With two of their final three games in Dingwall, starting with next weekend’s visit of Motherwell, White is determined to prolong the strong home form.
He added: “We have been disappointed with where we are, but since the manager has come in we have really picked up – especially at home.
“When we managed to get into the top-six our home form was excellent, so that seems to be coming back which is really positive.
“You’ve got to build your performances on your home performances. We can be better away from home, which is something we are always looking at.
“But it has given us the platform to go and be a bit more expressive away from home as well.”
Staggies’ desire to dig out victory paid off
White says County’s stubborn refusal to settle for a point against their Edinburgh opponents underlined the desire within the Staggies’ dressing room – which he feels bodes well for the challenge ahead.
The 32-year-old added: “There’s a lot of character in the team. After going 1-0 down, we were probably a wee bit shaky.
“Simon took his chance really well and that got us right back into it. From there we kicked on.
“Hibs are a good team, they had chances and Ross pulled off some really good saves to keep us in the game.
“Sometimes you need that, as it’s good teams we are playing.
“When you go into the last five or 10 minutes of the game, you might sit back and take the point.
“But we were really aggressive in the press. George Harmon saw that, the goalkeeper played a short pass and he did really well to pick me out. He did great when he came on.
“As a collective, it was really good.”
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