Martin's glowing tribute to Dibling following superb season kick-off

The young star has already made waves this season with his remarkable performances for the first team.

While the Saints are Premier League strugglers so far, Dibling has been one positive light for the fans.

Martin stated: “Tyler was unfortunate not to play earlier because he had an amazing pre-season. So he has an incredible belief in himself in a really nice, humble and modest way.

“But he has to just keep living at 100 per cent and understand where that is and understand what's got him this far.

“I think he has a brilliant support network with his family. He has a lot of trust from us and he has that back. It's not always plain sailing with young players.

“So to make him understand that and to make him understand what's really important for him and for us - and we're fortunate.

“At this minute in time, he couldn't play for every team. He suits the way we play a lot and he's getting so much better at the stuff he needs to improve on.

“But he needs to continue to grow and develop and stay so hungry. I think that's always a challenge with young players when they have a quick rise to keep them hungry.

“To keep them humble and to keep them wanting to learn, improve and develop. But with Tyler, I don't see that being a problem. He's such a calm and confident boy in the nicest way.

“As long as he maintains his sense of self and his character and his personality, and that's up to us to help him do that along with his family, then I've got no worries about him.

“With regard to him playing, if he's playing well and in form, he'll be treated exactly the same as Adam Lallana at 36 years old. I don't think age comes into it.

“I think it's part of the reason we were brought to this football club is our record of developing young talent and young players and turning them into established players.

“Then making them valuable assets for a club as well. I think we've known the plan with Tyler. Last year was very difficult for him to play.

“We had a lot of talented players in his position and we're trying to get promoted from the Championship but he's come back a different beast.

“This year, with how much he's grown and learned, if he continues to grow like that and develop, then his ceiling is so high.

“But we need to make sure that the expectation stays realistic because we have a brilliant habit in this country of picking young players up and then shooting them down.”