Source: Northern_Echo
Wheater happy in tandem with Bates
DAVID Wheater is enjoying renewing acquaintances with Matthew Bates in the heart of Middlesbrough's defence.[LNB] Wheater has been an everpresent for Boro this season, while Bates has been primarily employed as a left-back but injury to captain Stephen McManus saw the Eaglescliffe- born 23-year-old move inside next to his old sparring partner Wheater.[LNB] On Sunday, all four Boro defenders came through the Academy, with Tony McMahon, Wheater and Bates all featuring in Boro's 2004 FA Youth Cup success, while Joe Bennett and Jason Steele have graduated from the youth ranks more recently.[LNB] And Wheater is delighted that he has Bates as his wing man during McManus' absence from the first team.[LNB] It's great. We hadn't played for a while in the first team together, but in the youth team we were always together we won the Youth Cup together and we like playing together, we complement each other well, said the 23-year-old.[LNB] Dave Parnaby and Mark Proctor can take the credit for Boro's startling success in bringing top young talent through the ranks, but it is now Tony Mowbray's job to get his young side firing on all cylinders as they look to climb the Championship table.[LNB] However, Boro's mini-revival took a knock on Sunday with defeat to Swansea at the Liberty Stadium, though Wheater is confident that a resurgence is on the cards.[LNB] Wheater said: I thought we played alright on Sunday, obviously we had the two wins before then and we would have liked to start a bit of a run, but we have two home games coming up.[LNB] We need to win those and get back up there.[LNB] And Wheater is acutely aware of the threat that Millwall, Boro's next opponents, pose compared to the Swans' attacking brand of football.[LNB] Millwall is going to be totally different. Swansea are a passing team, but when we've played Millwall we know that they are a tough tackling team and they'll probably put the ball in behind us, make us run and make us work hard.[LNB] Against Swansea it was more a case of concentration as opposed to hard work.[LNB] In attack, Boro's deficiencies are clear to see.[LNB] The likes of Scott McDonald and Kris Boyd, both goalscorers, are feeding off scraps and Wheater is hopeful that the service line to the frontmen can be improved with the opening of the January transfer window.[LNB] We haven't got any width, there's no players to play on the wing, so when you have players out there who aren't wingers, you have to try to keep them right as well as yourself, so it's hard, he said.[LNB] Hopefully, in January, we might get some wingers in, because that's what we're missing at the moment. If we get some width, we'll score lots of goals.[LNB] At Scunthorpe, Boydy scored from Joe Bennett running down the line and putting a great ball in.[LNB] It doesn't always need to be a full-back to do that, we need a left winger or a right winger who can do that as well.[LNB] And Wheater is certainly enjoying life under Mowbray, whose attacking outlook has been a breath of fresh air for many of Boro's players.[LNB] He explained: Gordon Strachan was a lot more defensive and that is what we worked on in training.[LNB] But now, it's all about passing and going forward, and we're all enjoying it a bit more now.[LNB] It's showing with the last two games where we scored four goals in two games. We haven't scored much this season but it is starting to work out.[LNB] Before Swansea we were seven points off the play-offs, so a win would have put us in the middle of the table. But win both of our home games and we'll be right back in there.[LNB] Barry Robson has been called up to the Scotland squad for tomorrow's match with Faroe Islands.[LNB] Boro's MFC official store in Captain Cook Square will celebrate the start of Christmas late-night opening and its on-going Get Your Kit On For Less discount when Matthew Bates, Kevin Thomson and Barry Robson hold a signing session there on Thursday from 5-6pm.[LNB] Former manager Stan Anderson, who also captained Sunderland and Newcastle, will be signing copies of his autobiography, Captain of the North, on Saturday November 20 on 11am-11.45am Captain Cook Square store, 12 midday-1pm, stadium store.[LNB]
