The Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku says that he should be afforded more respect for his goalscoring record, which he believes bears up to scrutiny going all the way back to when he made his debut for Anderlecht at the age of 16.

The 24-year-old had one of his best performances of the season against Chelsea on Sunday, scoring United’s equaliser and then creating the winner for substitute Jesse Lingard in the second half.

Lukaku has 13 goals in the Premier League this season, in joint-fifth place with Roberto Firmino and Jamie Vardy, and 22 in all competitions. After a strong start to the season, he scored just once for the club in October and November.

Lukaku conceded that expectations had always been high because, despite his relatively young age, “I’ve been in the game for so long”. He said: “I started playing when I was 16. Year in, year out, people expect 20 goals from me. I’ve been doing it for 10 years straight, so I think I’ve proved myself. You expect a bit more respect but it’s the situation we’re in. I don’t listen to it. I just want to improve and show the people what I can do on the pitch.”