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Manchester United starlet Jesse Lingard was once so nervous during a match that he threw up on the pitch.

The 22-year-old winger has burst onto the scene this season - breaking into Louis van Gaal’s first team and earning an England call-up.

But he was so consumed with nerves ahead of United’s FA Youth Cup semi final against Chelsea in 2011, that he vomited just 10 minutes into the match a Stamford Bridge.

Lingard was part of a stellar group of players, including Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison, who went on to win the competition.

But United Academy coach Paul McGuinness has revealed how he was consumed with nerves.

“At the pre-match meal, I kept looking over and he was shaking in the dressing room and so on,” he said. “After 10 minutes, the physio had to go on and we asked him if Jesse was okay or injured.

“He said, ‘No, Jesse’s so nervous, he’s just been sick on the pitch.’

“That’s how nervous he was, but he recovered and did well in that game, and he then played well in the 4-0 win at Old Trafford in the second leg, and also the final.

“He was a key part in everything. Playing at Old Trafford in the FA Youth Cup was an important step.”

It wasn’t just nerves that Lingard had to overcome.

Due to his size, he played in the under 16s, rather than U18s to to help him develop.

McGuinness added: “We had to do that, he was playing down at times and we were playing him at the right time, but there also comes a time when you know he’s not going to be a giant so he has to adjust to being in with bigger and stronger lads.

“He was always capable of doing that because he was very brave and always brave in wanting to take the ball and confident.”

McGuinness says other clubs might not have been so patient with Lingard.

“He’s a real success story for everybody, particularly for himself, as he’s worked so hard and all his family have backed him and so on by bringing him here for so many years,” he told MUTV.

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“He probably wouldn’t have had the same opportunities at another Academy.

“It’s one thing we do pretty well – we work with late developers.

“He was very small when he was younger, a late developer coming through, but we saw the talent and everybody believed in him.

“I think that gave him the confidence to keep going and develop himself so we’re absolutely delighted he’s doing so well in the first team.”