Baldwin in rallying cry as Euro bid suffers blow

Jack Baldwin has called for Ross County to rally in their final two games as they aim to revive their European hopes.

The Staggies have dropped to sixth in the Premiership, after Motherwell claimed a 1-0 victory at Victoria Park on Saturday.

County now have just two matches left, with a trip to Rangers on Wednesday followed by a final-day match at home to Dundee United.

Malky Mackay’s men had momentum on their side prior to the fixture, following a remarkable turnaround in their season which started with no wins from 10 games.

Although Baldwin says the loss is a blow to his side, the defender insists the Staggies have no time to dwell on it.

Baldwin said: “It shows how far we have come as a group to be disappointed that we have fallen out of the European spot. But taking the season in perspective, we’ve come a long way and we are a fantastic group with resilience, so this will be a little nudge up the backside to click us into gear to do the best we can in the next two games.

“We spoke afterwards and said it’s not a feeling we’ve had a lot recently.

“It’s a little kick up the backside and there is still a lot to play for, so we are not going to down tools now. There’s a long way to go and we can only do our best.”

Motherwell’s winner came from the penalty spot, with Kevin Van Veen converting after he was ruled to have been fouled by Alex Iacovitti.

The Staggies adamantly disputed the decision and Englishman Baldwin is frustrated it proved to be the way the game was settled.

Baldwin added: “Speaking to big Alex, he’s adamant that he cleared the ball. But he’s an experienced striker to say the least and in these scenarios he is always going to try his best to get something.

“Speaking to Alex he thinks the big man has hit the deck a bit too easily, but we can’t change that.

“The referee has given what he thought was necessary. But these are the big decisions that ultimately, come the end of the season, can be make or break trying to get into Europe so it’s frustrating.

“The manager and coaching staff put down a challenge to us to take control of the ball a bit more and build up a bit of possession leading to good attacks in good areas.

“We probably had the ball in areas that weren’t affecting the game too much. We should probably have looked to impose ourselves a bit more going forward, build our attacks from deeper and try and draw players out and get men into spaces.”