Manchester United rotated their attacking line-up for Saturday’s home game against Everton but Jesse Lingard once again missed out on a starting slot.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho all dropped out of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s starting line-up for the match but there was no space for the England international.
That is despite Lingard’s promising early form in his rare appearances for United - he netted goals as a substitute in the wins against Newcastle and West Ham, while providing the assist for Ronaldo’s midweek winner against Villarreal.
Former United central defender Rio Ferdinand believes Lingard has every right to “feel aggrieved” at not being included in the line-up against Everton.
Lingard did not feature at all in the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in which the hosts once again failed to reach expectations with Rafael Benitez’s side having a late goal ruled out for offside.
Ronaldo, Pogba and Sancho all came on from the bench, but Anthony Martial - who scored United’s only goal of the game - was introduced into the XI alongside Edinson Cavani in a central striking role.
It was a somewhat surprising line-up but it did appear to pay dividends in the first half with Martial giving United the lead at the break.
The hosts were slicker and better organised than in previous weeks but the second half performance became increasingly disjointed and United had to accept a point.
Lingard was not introduced at any points during the match but there are increasing calls for the player to be selected due to his form in the early weeks of the season.
"You rest Ronaldo at times,” Ferdinand explained on BT Sport.
"You expect to be rested at 36, you’ve got international games after this I think one of them is a friendly match against Qatar, you don’t need to play there then you’ve got Luxembourg.
"He’s bringing in Cavani, he’s not bringing in someone substandard, he’s bringing in someone who got goals last season who’s a fantastic player, a leader as well.
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"More surprising for me is Martial coming in instead of someone like Lingard. He’s resting, shuffling the pack with Sancho but I think Lingard does deserve to start and I think he’ll feel aggrieved that he’s not starting after what he’s been producing as an impact player."
Lingard’s Old Trafford career had appeared to be over last season as he fells out of the team entirely before joining West Ham on loan for the second half of the campaign.
He netted an impressive 11 goals in 16 appearances for the Hammers before returning to United this summer but his only start this season came in the EFL Cup defeat against his former club.
He has been introduced as a substitute five times across the Premier League and Champions League matches, totalling just 64 minutes across those outings.
