Since joining from Chelsea in the summer, Lewis Bate has primarily been involved with the under-23 side at Leeds United.
However, in December and January, the midfielder appeared to take a huge leap forwards at the club.
Despite the fact Jack Jenkins had often been preferred to Bate in match day squads in the Premier League, when the FA Cup tie against West Ham came around it was Bate who was given the nod to start in central midfield. He impressed enough in his 45 minutes of action that when a first-half substitute was needed for Adam Forshaw a week later, the teenager stepped off the bench for his Premier League debut as well.
The Leeds squad have had a break from fixtures since losing to Newcastle United on January 22 but as they returned to training last week a lot of images emerged of the players getting back into the swing of things and Bate shared a picture on his Instagram as he trained alongside Mateusz Klich, Stuart Dallas and Daniel James.
Pundit and ex-Leeds United player Noel Whelan has shared his thoughts on this, calling it 'brilliant' for the young midfielder:
"It’s brilliant. This is why you have your pathway from your under-23s to build through into the first team," Whelan told Football Insider.
"They’re now coming through and working alongside the international midfield players like Klich and Kalvin Phillips.
"The things they’ll be learning from them by just being in and around them, taking part in training next to them, will make them better players and more confident players in themselves as well."
As Leeds didn't sign any more midfielders in January, Bate will be hopeful of more Premier League minutes in the second half of the season.
