Jobe Bellingham: Birmingham City debut for Jude's 16-year-old brother

Jobe Bellingham has followed his brother Jude through the Birmingham City young system

Birmingham City manager Lee Bowyer says 16-year-old midfielder Jobe Bellingham is "improving every day" after he made his first-team debut.

The younger brother of England and former Blues player Jude came on as a substitute in Birmingham's FA Cup extra-time loss to Plymouth Argyle.

Less than 30 minutes after Jobe's debut Jude scored for Borussia Dortmund in their Bundesliga game at Frankfurt.

"Young Jobe coming on looked so comfortable," Bowyer said.

"He's earned that, he's been training with us for two, three, four weeks now, you can just see him growing and improving every day."

Jobe's debut came at the age of 16 years and 107 days, 69 days older than when Jude made his debut for Blues in an EFL Cup loss at Portsmouth in August 2019.

His older brother went on to move to German giants Dortmund in July 2020 in a deal which could eventually be worth over £30m to the Championship club. The 18-year-old has since gone on to win 10 England caps and be part of the side that reached the final of Euro 2020.

Jude Bellingham scored an 87th-minute equaliser for Borussia Dortmund as they went on to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 in the Bundesliga on Saturday

"I said to him after the game 'You've done really well, you're a 16-year-old lad that dominated the ball, didn't really give it away, tried to do the right things and when you did give it away you ran back, defended in your own box," Bowyer added.

"He did a lot of good things and I said 'I only gave you that opportunity because you've earned it.

"When he first came to us training with the first-team group he took too many touches and was getting caught in possession, but now that's not happening as much and you've seen that there.

"He played with a confidence and that's because he's improving every day and I thought it was the right time and I'd like to think that I was right."

'We definitely need to dip into the market'

Bellingham became the third teenager to make his Blues debut this month after Jordan James and George Hall, both aged 17.

James started the cup tie against League One Plymouth, one of a number of young players to feature as Birmingham's squad deals with injuries and Covid-19.

"We definitely need to dip into the market," Bowyer said of his transfer aspirations this month.

"I had five kids on the pitch there at the end, two 19-year-olds, an 18-year-old, a 17-year-old and a 16-year-old.

"I'm not just playing games saying 'oh we need help', that's all we've got available.

"We need some help in the market and it's easy to see that I think."