Blues have already had the pleasure of the Staffordshire-based official refereeing one of their games so this season as Mr Bates was the man in the middle for our 1-0 home defeat to Coventry City back on 3rd November. No Blues players were booked on that occasion.
In total Anthony Bates has refereed in 36 games so far this season in which he has handed out 63 yellow cards and 3 reds.
Mike Blackledge and John Magill will be Anthony Bates's assistants for the match at Vicarage Road on Saturday afternoon.
For a detailed head-to-head between the two sides, click here