MANCHESTER -- Jesse Lingard has revealed he kept Marcus Rashford's spirits high during his spell out of the Manchester United team by "winding him up."

Rashford started his first Premier League game of the year against Liverpool and took his chance by scoring both goals in the 2-1 win at Old Trafford.

And Lingard insists he was not surprised to see his friend come back with a bang.

"I think it's his mentality," he said. "He has got good people around him, and they always assure him he is in a good place.

Jesse Lingard says he kept Marcus Rashford's spirits high by winding him up. Michael Regan/Getty Images

"You can't be depressed around me, I'm always winding him up. It's good that you can be around him to have a laugh and reassure him that it's going to come good and that if he gets a chance he will perform and he has done that.

"He is doing well, he has come in and he has got the right mentality and he has shown the manager what he can do."

United face key games this week against Sevilla in the Champions League and Brighton in the FA Cup. And Lingard believes victories over Chelsea and Liverpool have set the standard for the remaining weeks of the season.

He said: "With the Chelsea game last week, and this game, we showed real heart and desire to win games. And we have done that. We have shown what we are capable of.

"It was a great win and the Palace game, to get the result how we did shows what kind of team that we are and if we can get past Sevilla, it will put us in a good position and then we have the FA Cup."