Come on in and join the club! Get our daily Manchester United email newsletter Sign me up! Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard's performance in the Manchester derby in the No.10 role showed that has added steel to his game after going toe-to-toe with City talisman Yaya Toure.

United boss Louis van Gaal's change in tactics to put the 23-year-old against the Ivorian proved to be a masterstroke as the Red Devils recorded a 1-0 success at the Etihad, report the Manchester Evening News .

It also meant that the Warrington star was able to return to a central position behind striker Marcus Rashford .

“It was the manager's idea to play me centrally. There is a lot of space to exploit behind Yaya and Fernandinho and we had to use that well,” said Lingard.

“I used to like playing number ten when I was younger but as I developed I had to stay on the wing because it is physical in the middle. But I have come into my own now and I can handle it in there now.

(Image: Matthew Peters)

“It wasn't a confidence thing for me it was a physical thing. I knew growing up I had to play out on the wing because you don't want to be missing out on the battles in the middle. There are a lot of big lads in there you play against but now I am used to it and I am battling back.

“Playing against someone like Yaya Toure, a bigger and better opponent, is a test and I was pleased.”

A year ago to the day of Sunday's derby match Lingard was in the Derby County side who lost 2-0 in the championship to Wolves. He had six more matches on loan at the Rams before returning to Old Trafford for a critical season in his career.

Gallery: The best pictures from the Etihad

Read more:

“I knew after I came back from Derby County on loan that this was pretty much a make or break season for me,” he said.

“I had to wait three months to come against Everton and ever since then I have played. I knew I had to breakthrough at my age.

“Sir Alex Ferguson made a statement about me coming good at 23 and it has obviously been the case.”

(Image: AFP/Getty)

Ferguson made his Lingard prediction in 2012, stating: “Jesse Lingard is going to be some player.

"He is 19, came through our youth system and is built like Jean Tigana was for France. But he never got into the limelight there until he was about 24, and I think that will be the same with Lingard.

“He will become a player when he’s 22 or so. As an attacking midfielder he has got a really good talent. I think he will be a player we have high hopes for, definitely.”

Read more: