Former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has heaped praise on the club's fringe players for "taking their opportunity" against Tranmere Rovers in the FA Cup.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side raced into a three-goal lead after only 15 minutes on the clock with Harry Maguire and Diogo Dalot both scoring their first goals for the club.
Lingard added the third before Phil Jones and Anthony Martial made it 5-0 before the half-time whistle.
Much of the pre-match build-up was spent discussing the playing surface at Prenton Park but United made light work of the bobbly pitch by carving open their League One hosts with quick, sharp passing.
After a difficult week that saw United follow up defeat at Anfield with a 2-0 reverse at home to Burnley, the much-improved, professional performance was the perfect tonic for Solskjaer's men.
Similarly, it was those currently on the periphery of the first-team squad that stood up to be counted and their performances drew praise from Hargreaves at half-time.
"If you think about the goal from Dalot, it's confidence for him. Confidence for Jesse Lingard, confidence for Phil Jones," Hargreaves told BT Sport at the interval.
"Players that haven't had opportunities and they have taken them. We talked about attitude before the game, all the players have approached the game with the right attitude.
"In front of goal, they have been clinical and I think Ole (Gunnar Solskjaer) can be really proud of his players after a really difficult week. They have approached this game in the right manner and they're getting their just rewards for that.
"Every shot so far has gone in, five shots on target, five goals, you have to credit the United for approaching the game in the right way. The pitch doesn't look right but United have passed the ball as well as they have all season."
