Jesse Lingard has said he felt as though he was an 'easy target' when Roy Keane and Gary Neville criticised him ahead of a game against Liverpool last season.

Manchester United went into a match at Anfield in poor form last December and Keane and Neville questioned the timing of the launch of Lingard's clothing label in the build-up to the game.

Lingard scored but United lost 3-1 in a game that proved to be Jose Mourinho's last in charge of the club.

"The launch was actually a week earlier," Lingard told Mail Online. "We played a Champions League game in midweek. Nobody mentioned it. Then we play Liverpool and suddenly it's talked about. I felt I was an easy target. Before the game my dad texted me the comments and said I should make sure I had a good game. I scored.

"But stuff like those comments play on your mind and will always increase the pressure. I know it was the right time to do the launch, though. I am comfortable with that."

Lingard also revealed how he recently instigated a one-to-one chat with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to open up about the personal issues that have dogged much of his year.

The 26-year-old's mother fell ill at the beginning of the season but he kept his problems to himself up until a few weeks ago.

"I wasn't performing and he was on me all the time. He wanted more from me," Lingard said. "So I felt it was best to get everything off my chest and tell him why my head wasn't right. So I knocked on his door.

"I am normally quite bubbly and want to put smiles on people's faces but people have seen the change in my ways.

"I have been down and glum; just worrying. I felt like everybody just passed all the stuff to me and it weighed on my shoulders."