Attacker needs to replace regular star: Three things we learned from Rangers v Partick Thistle
Bates needs to stop the long ball
There’s not much that gets by David Bates but someone needs to tell him he shouldn’t be trying to shell balls forward into channels.
The former Raith Rovers defender is a solid as a rock defensively but often creates problems for his side with his long passes forward.
With the likes of Jason Holt, James Tavernier and Sean Goss around him, the 21-year-old normally has plenty of options to play a short pass and keep possession but has a tendency to try fire the ball forward too often.
If the defender keeps it simple ad moves the ball on to a team-mate closer to him and allow them to do the work with it it should cut the number of times the Gers defence find themselves on the back foot.
It is likely something the Gers coaching staff are working on with Bates but he needs to be more consistent and more accurate before it becomes a regular feature of his game.
In other Rangers news, it can be revealed that a key first teamer has sensationally asked to leave after the board failed to stick to their promise of giving him a new deal during the transfer window.
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