Dundee striker Marcus Haber has both survived and succumbed to relegation and there are no prizes for guessing which outcome he preferred.
The Canadian international was in the Crewe Alexandra side that dropped down to England’s League Two at the end of last season, despite his best efforts and 10 goals for the Railwaymen.
That followed on from the previous year when Crewe just held on to their League One status on the final day of the campaign thanks to results elsewhere going their way after they had lost at home to Bradford.
Haber believes the Dens men have both the quality and character to avoid such dramas, despite being on a five-game losing streak going into today’s trip to Tynecastle to face Hearts.
“I have been in this position with Crewe and it was a grind right up to and including the last day of the season,” he said.
“So I’ve been there before.
“I’ve been relegated before but I have also been in fights where we have stayed up.
“We have been under the cosh and five or six points adrift but managed to stay up.
“So I have seen both sides of the coin.
“I know which one I prefer – definitely.
“It’s all about mentality, really, and I am a resilient person.
“I don’t think any player wants to be relegated or wants to have that on their CV.
“But we are still in a position where we can get out of trouble and I think we have the quality and mentality to do so.”
Haber joined his manager Paul Hartley in expressing the view that the Dark Blues were unlucky to have taken nothing from their trip to Dingwall on Tuesday.
They appeared to be heading for a 1-1 draw before Liam Boyce scored a last-minute penalty for County to keep Dundee’s losing run going.
Haber said: “I think we were unlucky in the last game and deserved a point.
“Decisions don’t always go your way, though.
“We are really keen to bounce back.
“I just look game to game and don’t really dwell on defeats.
“For me, it’s about not being too high when you win or too low when you lose.
“I’m just looking to stay positive.
“We have to continue with the level of confidence we have in the squad and believe in ourselves.
“I think we have enough quality here to get some results.”
So Haber feels there is no need to panic despite being in desperate need of a win heading to Edinburgh.
He added: “You have to manage the situation.
“We are all professionals and we all know the task ahead.
“We just need to get back to doing what we were doing when we were having success.
“It is about playing our game and believing in ourselves as a group.
“Everyone is aware of the league table.
“We all know, as a squad collectively, what we need to do.
“We need to pick up points and get a few wins in the upcoming fixtures – it’s pretty simple.
“We are still in a position where we can control our own destiny.
“We don’t need to worry about other teams.”
Haber’s return has helped boost morale after the 7-0 thrashing from Aberdeen and he admitted it was painful watching from the stand because of injury before returning to the side to face the Staggies.
He said: “I think regardless of what game it is, you are frustrated if you can’t be out there helping your teammates.
“Obviously, because of what happened against Aberdeen it was really frustrating.
“I think that’s in the past now and we are all looking forward.
“We face Hearts now and I am not too concerned about what they are doing internally or even their results.
“We have to focus on our own team at the moment and we are confident that we can get better from performance to performance.
“Maybe it is good time to play them but maybe Hearts are thinking the same thing about us.
“Perhaps the two things cancel each other out.”
Hartley has injury doubts over frontman Faissal El Baktaoui and central defender Kosta Gadzhalov but both are expected to be available to face the Jam Tarts.
