Bit of Luk has made Lingard a scoring sensation
JESSE Lingard believes Jose Mourinho’s decision to move him closer to Romelu Lukaku has sparked his goalscoring form.
The 25-year-old has netted an impressive five goals in December, taking his tally to nine for the season.
His Boxing Day brace rescued United against Burnley after Lingard missed an open goal in last week’s stalemate at Leicester.
Manager Jose Mourinho has mainly deployed Lingard on the right flank since arriving at Old Trafford, but over recent games he has played further inside.
The Warrington-born midfielder believes that switch has made him more of a goalscoring threat.
He told MUTV: “This role, further inside, allows me to be closer to the striker, to get in the box, create more things and obviously have more shots at goal. I thought we could nick it towards the end against Burnley but, obviously, time ran out and now we look forward to the next game (against Southampton).
“We always have that fighting spirit, that nevergive-up attitude and we’ll see where it gets us.”
Mourinho was pleased with Lingard’s impact from the bench against Burnley.
After the game he said: “Lingard came in and helped the team, Lingard and Mkhitaryan gave us a good dynamic. All the boys accepted the risk to only play with Jones (in defence).
“All the boys accepted the risk that we took, at least the point is not a defeat and is the minimum the boys deserve for such spirit.”