Jesse Lingard claims he "didn’t get his chance" under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Jesse Lingard has claimed he "didn't get his chance" under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after football resumed last year.

Lingard was loaned out by Manchester United to West Ham in January and has enjoyed an impressive start to life in the East End.

He scored twice on his Hammers debut as they beat Aston Villa 3-1 and kept his place for the drab 0-0 draw against relegation-threatened Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Lingard will have the opportunity to build on his fruitful start when the Irons host basement boys Sheffield United on Monday evening.

The 28-year-old says lockdown gave him the chance to reflect on the successes of his career so far, and insists he was working as hard as he could despite not being picked by Solskjaer in the first half of this season.

He told BT Sport: "First and foremost I'm here to play, win and help the team, so hopefully I can do that and we'll see where we're at come the end of the season.

"It's about playing with a smile on my face and enjoying my football and getting back to the old Jesse.

"During the lockdown, I recapped my best moments playing football – the season under Jose [Mourinho] where I scored all of those goals and went to the World Cup and the season when Ole came in and I started well.

"I started getting that fire in my belly and drive again to go and kick on because it would have been easy for me to fall off and take the easy option out, but a person like me who's been through a lot and knows the game, I can't just give it up like and I'll always go out with a fight.

"I came back one of the strongest and fittest (in the Man Utd squad) after the lockdown and I didn't get my chance that I was waiting on but the whole time I was there and not playing I was doing extra training and keeping on top of my fitness for when the time was right.

"So for me, it's about working hard and staying dedicated and I went back to basics."

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