Jordon Ibe has been tipped for international stardom after impressing for Liverpool this week - but it was Wanderers assistant manager Richard Dobson who first urged England scouts to come and take a look at him.

The former Blues starlet has been making plenty of headlines this week after a starring role in the Merseyside derby on Saturday, before impressing again against Tottenham Hotspur in midweek.

But his stand-out displays in the top flight come as no surprise to Dobson, who nurtured Ibe through the Wanderers academy during his time as youth team coach.

Dobson said: "I actually contacted the England scouts and said we've got a lad here who's a little bit special. I think when someone calls in from Wycombe Wanderers, they tend to think there's a coach there who's got a bit excited about someone who's a little bit average, but I'm not that type of person. I wouldn't call them about someone who I thought was OK - he was special, and I saw there was something in him.

"They came down and watched him a couple of times playing in our youth team games. They were umming and ahhing about whether he was ready to go into international football at youth level.

"When he went to Liverpool he moved into international football pretty quickly - maybe it helped having Liverpool behind his name on the teamsheet rather than Wycombe Wanderers, but I like to think we recognised very early on he had that potential.

"He was always athletically superior to the other boys. He had great acceleration, good strength, and an ability to go past people like they weren't there.

"We recognised that very early on and realised he had to be tested against people who were physically older and more capable than him in order to progress him, because it was too easy for him to go past people of his own age group."

Ibe joined Wanderers as a 12-year-old after being released by Charlton Athletic and was playing first team football just three years later.

Dobson said: "He played in a district side that our scout was looking after, so we had a good relationship with him and the family straight away. Early on he was under the radar, and it gave us the chance to bring him in and nurture him."

At the age of 15 he created a stir by scoring in a League One game for Blues against Sheffield Wednesday - making him the third youngest scorer in Football League history.

Liverpool have this week been credited for their role in Ibe's development and Dobson said: "It's always the way. People want to give themselves a pat on the back for the work they have done, and I totally understand that. From Liverpool's perspective there's been a lot of good work they have done there with him, and that can't be underestimated."

But he added: "There was work done in that foundation phase here that's vital to any player achieving their full potential. If you don't hit those targets at those age groups, then you're not going to go on to be the player you expect or hope to be. The coaches that looked after him here were vital to him getting to where he is now."

Ibe has played at three different youth levels with England, going up to the U20 team, and Dobson believes a full international call-up will come one day.

He said: "To see Jordon do as well as he has done doesn't come as a surprise to me. We always felt he had the potential to get to the top, but at the same time it's great to see him making that breakthrough and producing special performances at such a young age.

"I see no reason why he can't become a future England international at some stage when you look at what he does. You're talking about top class players in the Premier League and Jordon can go by them like they're not there at times.

"There's something special there that can be nurtured on to international football."