Jesse Lingard insists he ‘needs more self-belief’ as Man Utd midfielder hits back at ‘nasty’ critics
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JESSE LINGARD admits he is suffering from a drop in confidence in his quietest season at Manchester United yet.
No goals and just a single assist in the League Cup are all the midfielder has to show from 16 appearances this campaign.
It is a far cry from the bombastic attack-minded player who walked into England squads only 18 months ago.
And Lingard feels he previously had more self-belief "in stages" but needs to recover his mojo and help Ole Gunnar Solskjaer out.
Speaking to the UTD Podcast, Lingard said: "I think I still need more, even to this day now to be quite honest.
"Believing in your own ability to get on the ball and make things happen."
The 26-year-old wants to get back to "playing how I used to play" but feels he hasn't been helped by changing managers.
Without a Premier League goal since Solskjaer's first game in charge, Lingard noted: "It has obviously been tough with a lot of different managers coming in.
"Even throughout the tactics and the managers I think as a person, you know you should be playing week-in, week-out."
Along with Marcus Rashford, Lingard was criticised by some for posting his boy-ish escapades on holiday during the off-season.
Such coverage, paired with the needless comments by trolls online, is something that he is keen to push to one side.
Lingard added: "If you came home with me, you’d just think I’m boring. I just watch Netflix all day, all week. I don’t do much else.
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“There are a lot of things on social media, with people saying nasty things. You can’t get drawn into all that stuff. I don’t read that stuff, I don’t read papers.
"That’s why it’s tough for young footballers coming through now, they’re so attracted to social media and what people are saying about them, they don’t actually know how good they are themselves.
"One person can hate you and one person can love you, that’s just life. You have to get on with it."
Lingard is expected to feature when United play Astana away in the Europa League on Thursday.