Defender Jack Baldwin insists every remaining league game is a cup final until the play-offs are assured.
Peterborough United Centre-half Jack Baldwin insists every game is a cup final as the Posh look to cement themselves in the last play-off place.
Back-to-back clean sheets in home wins against Gillingham and Coventry City has seen Posh move seven points clear of seventh placed Swindon Town with four league fixtures remaining.
Baldwin was drafted back in to the side for the two home wins and has since reiterated the importance of keeping the momentum going around the club.
He said: “There’s nothing better for your confidence than winning games. Hitting form now is a great time to be doing so, we have to continue keeping clean sheets and scoring at the other end and hopefully that should be fine, but we can’t take our eye off the ball just yet, every game is a cup final.
“Keeping clean sheets, which as a defender is my job, has been great. As a whole back four that’s our priority during games, and we’ll be looking to build from that.”
Baldwin signed a four-and-a-half year deal with the Posh on the January transfer deadline day following his move from Hartlepool. On his arrival, the youngster was unable to feature in the Southern area final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy against Swindon due to being cup-tied.
“Being cup-tied wasn’t the worst scenario as it gave me time to settle in and see how everything worked without being thrown straight in the deep end.” Baldwin said.
The former-Hartlepool player was in and out of hotel rooms when he first joined the club and found it a struggle to cope with the demands and pressure of League One football.
He said: “League One football is a lot more demanding and there’s a lot more pressure involved. With the club looking to go places and obviously get promoted there’s a lot more ask around the club, which I found quite difficult to get use to.
“At Hartlepool I wasn’t use to these demands, but now I feel a lot more settled and I use the pressure to strive from to try and get good results for the club.
It was difficult being in a hotel room for the first few weeks. Finding a place has helped me a lot, I’ve got my own space now, and my own time to think. It’s helped me to adapt to the pressure and demands of the club.”
Baldwin felt he had to prove people wrong from the start of his Posh career. His first appearance in a Peterborough United shirt was as a substitute against Crawley where he gave away a late penalty for handling the ball, resulting in a 1-0 defeat.
He said: “I came on at Crawley and gave the penalty away which was devastating. I then had to try and convince everybody what I was about and when the MK Dons game came, I thought I was pretty solid.
“I had to get over it and just continue working hard and show everyone what I can do. I think now I’m a bit more settled, and a bit more confident around the group so I can relax when I play.”
Baldwin, who is only 20 years-old, has almost 80 league appearances to his name already, but knows there is still room for improvement within his game as he aims to reach the next level of his playing career with the Posh.
“There’s still a few sloppy errors in my game that I need to work on, but that will all come with experience. I’m still learning and working hard to up my game. As a young player you want to be playing at the top and hopefully if I can progress another level with Peterborough, I’ll get to see what it’s all about,” he said.
The Posh travel to Valley Parade on Friday to face a Bradford City side who currently sit 11th in League One. The Posh will be hoping to make it three wins on the bounce in what will certainly be a tricky affair.
“It’s not the easiest of places to go. We need to go there on top of our game and hope we get a result, and hopefully it will be a win to keep the momentum going. As a defender, another clean sheet would be tremendous,” Baldwin said.