TYRONE Mings’ father reckons remembering his hardy non-league roots will be paramount for his son as his stock continues to soar in the Championship.

The Ipswich Town full-back, from Chippenham, has enjoyed a sparkling start to the season at Portman Road and is reportedly attracting admiring glances from Premier League giants Arsenal, Chelsea and Everton, with the 21-year-old also rumoured to have been the subject of a multi-million pound bid from Crystal Palace in the closing stages of the summer transfer window.

Former Chippenham Town manager Adie left the Southern League club to take up a dream scouting position at Chelsea in September 2012 and his son followed suit three months later as he made a sensational switch from the Bluebirds to the Tractor Boys.

Now wearing the number three shirt on his back, Mings, who was named the Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month for September, is pulling up trees as a regular in Mick McCarthy’s back line and his father, a former Gloucester City, Forest Green Rovers and Bath City striker, couldn’t be more pleased with the Ipswich starlet’s progress.

“The manager (McCarthy) has been fantastic. He didn’t blood him too early, where his confidence could have been dented, and he let him have Aaron Creswell in front of him as he developed as a player,” said Mings senior.

“He went to St George’s Park for ten days in the summer to train with Michael Johnson (four-time Olympic sprinting champion) and he worked a lot on his speed. I think they wanted to see him get forward a lot more and he’s got a few assists already this season.

“There’s no doubt that he’s a special talent. He’s got great athleticism and he’s 6ft 4in, and there aren’t that many natural left-footed defenders operating at the top level in this country. I think his development could end up with him becoming a centre-half.

“I’ve always told him to stay humble. You can’t forget where you’ve come from because there aren’t many players that get released at the age of 15 (by Southampton) and make it to where he has.

“Winning the Player of the Month was great but October is another month and it’s up to him to replicate what he’s done again. It’s no surprise that he’s in the limelight right now.

“I’m obviously really proud of him and I’m just happy to see him develop the way he has.”

The former Bluebirds boss, who still lives in Chippenham, added: “I’ve been lucky enough to go and see him play four times. I was at the Norwich game, the Reading game, the Notts Forest game and the Cardiff game (last week).

“It’s good to get the chance to be there and see what he’s doing and how he’s coping with everything.”

MORE SPORTS NEWS, PICTURES AND REACTION IN THIS THURSDAY'S GAZETTE AND HERALD. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @gazsport