Jesse Lingard fears Man Utd have a mentality problem and go into lesser games thinking they’ve already won

JESSE LINGARD says Manchester United have got to sort their mentality out if they want to challenge for the title in the future.

The Red Devils are the only team in the league to take points off Liverpool and have beaten both Manchester City and Tottenham.

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Yet they lost to bottom club Watford on Sunday and have also been beaten by Crystal Palace, West Ham, Newcastle and Bournemouth.

Now Lingard admits that he fears the players turn up thinking the three points are in the bag against lesser teams.

Lingard said: “It's strange. Maybe it's a mindset thing. Maybe it's our mentality going into the match thinking we've already won the game.

“If we keep the consistency and mentality we had against City and Tottenham, I don't see why we can't win every game.

“It seems like our mentality changes. To keep that consistency throughout the rest of the season when we come against the mid-table teams, we need to have the same mentality that we did going into the City and Tottenham game.

“When we start with energy and on the front foot, we'll cause team problems all day long.”

Lingard, 27, has started to recover his form after a difficult year and now wants to take more of a leadership role with the side.

He captained the team for the first time last month away to Astana.

And Lingard said: “All I ever wished for was to captain Man United and to do that and lead a lot of young lads out that night was a special feeling.

“I said at the start of the season that I would like to become a bit of a leader on and off the pitch.

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"I've always come through the ranks and not been that vocal, but now I'd like to take that leadership on and be a bit more responsible in the changing room before games. I've started to do that.

"We've got a lot of the academy boys coming through the ranks now. They're getting their time to shine and are doing really well, and we've got experienced players as well who have won trophies. That blend is working perfectly for us at the moment.”

United take on Newcastle at home tomorrow looking for revenge for that defeat at St. James’ Park in early October.

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