Boro lie third in the table behind Southampton and West Ham going into Saturday's match with Blackpool at the Riverside thanks to an excellent start to the season which saw Mowbray's men set a new club record of eleven games without defeat.

That form is in stark contrast to this stage of last season, when the Teessiders were struggling to lift themselves away from the relegation zone and Captain Bates insists there is nothing lucky about their position.

"It's been a massive turnaround for us and it's good to take a step back and see just how far we've come in a short time," said Bates.

"We were second bottom of the league just 13 months ago and we're third top now.

"We're not punching above our weight, we're where we are because we deserve to be.

"We're coming into the middle part of the season now so it's not about luck, it's about good team performances.

"But we know it's a long season and it's a hard league. We've just got to keep picking up points and hopefully we'll be there come the end of the season."

Prior to the international break, Boro managed to secure their second successive home win against Watford thanks to Scott McDonald's first-half goal.

As Mowbray admitted after the game, Boro's performance was far from pretty, but Bates believes the result suggests just how much the side has improved.

He said: "Maybe it wasn't pretty against Watford but winning is a nice habit to be in.

"This time last year we'd have probably ended up losing that kind of game and we know it's important that when you play badly you still pull together and somehow win.

"I don't think Watford threatened us too much and it was nice to keep a clean sheet. It's not one to remember but all points are equally important and if we win all our games 1-0, we won't be far off.

"It's important to play well but you have those days and it's always nice when you come out at the end and you have three points."