The Glasgow Rangers defender returned in impressive style last weekend.
When David Bates was named in the starting XI for Rangers’ recent clash with Aberdeen, some Gers fans were quick to fear the worst. However, the 21-year-old delivered an outstanding performance to prove his doubters wrong, suggesting he will feature plenty more in the months ahead.
So did Rangers fans simply forget how good Bates actually is? After all, he did well when he was given chances last season and yet he never truly one over the Ibrox faithful, with the ill-fated Europa League clash against Progres Niederkorn this time round doing nothing to help his cause.
Bates was quickly and wrongly labelled a flop after one bad performance and Rangers fans would be wise to give him a second chance, especially when he was not that bad in the first place.
The prospect of a three-man defence with Bates partnering Fabio Cardoso and Bruno Alves, with Ross McCrorie playing further forward, is an exciting prospect and one interim manager Graeme Murty may utilise if he stays a while longer.
As for Bates, he will simply be hoping to make up for lost time and, on recent evidence, that will not take long.
A quality centre-back with years to improve, Rangers fans are suddenly realising just how many good young players they have at Ibrox right now.
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