David Bates was one of the surprise call ups to Alex McLeish’s Scotland squad to face Albania and Israel. But just how well has the former Rangers defender been doing in Germany since he moved to Hamburg in the summer?
The central defender recently said that moving to the northern, German city was “one of the best decisions” he’d ever made and that he was now “100 percent better” than he was last season. And at first glance that certainly seems to be the case.
Since the start of the season the 22-year-old defender has hit the ground running in Hannes Wolf’s side and has featured in 11 of Hamburg’s 15 opening games. The player has also started for his new club in all but one of those 11 appearances.
What makes this all the more impressive is that Hamburg currently lay claim to the second best defensive record in the 2.Bundesliga. And the young Scot can confidently say he has played an integral part in that impressive start to the season.
On top of that, Hamburg currently sit top of the German second tier after eight wings and three draws from their opening 13 games and are undoubtedly favourites to jump back up to the Bundesliga next season.
On a personal level, Bates is averaging 4.47 interceptions, 3.78 clearances and 7.68 headers per game. And the young defender makes more passes per game than any other player in the division.
Although Bates faces tough competition from the likes of established talents such as Leo Lacroix or young, exciting prospects like Rick van Drongelen, the lad from Kirkcaldy has taken every challenge to date in his stride.
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