Gary Neville hits out at fans' criticism of Manchester United's Jesse Lingard

Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has claimed that the fans' criticism of Jesse Lingard is "unjustified".

The 24-year-old signed a new long-term contract, thought to be worth £100,000 per week, last Thursday.

This season, Lingard has started 13 Premier League games and has scored one goal and produced two assists in 18 top-flight appearances in total.

Despite scoring important goals in last season's FA Cup final and February's EFL Cup final, some fans are not best pleased that he has been given a huge pay packet.

Neville, though, believes that Lingard has warranted a new deal at Old Trafford.

"Criticism of him is unjustified, he's done well and scored in two cup finals for United," the Manchester Evening News quotes Neville as saying.

"He's done a very good job for Jose Mourinho, for United, gives his all in every single game. He loves the club, so I think that ultimately it's a deserved contract.

"I think maybe the fans' frustration sometimes is the fact that they want to see a [Cristiano] Ronaldo or a [Ryan] Giggs all the time. You always need players like Jesse to support those types of players like Park [Ji-sung] because they balance off the talented players, do the work and fill in gaps."

Lingard has been part of the United fabric since he joined their youth academy in 2000.