WORCESTER City striker Joe Bates has agreed terms with the Midland League Premier Division club for the 2017-18 season.

Bates, 19, was on loan last season at Bishops Cleeve in the Southern League, making 29 appearances and scoring six goals before returning to Worcester for the final day of the season.

He is a product of the City youth academy and after showing his scoring ability in under 21 games made the step up to the first team towards the end of the 2015-16 season, appearing on the bench several times.

Bates, a former Christopher Whitehead Language College pupil from Lower Wick in Worcester, said: "It is time to seize my opportunity."