Scott McTominay hailed the performance of Jesse Lingard after Manchester United defeated Watford 1-0 in the third round of the FA Cup.
Lingard was one of nine changes to the United side on Saturday night as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer utilised his squad depth to deal with the packed fixture schedule.
Although the heap of changes affected the rhythm of United's play it was a hit worth taking as key players such as Bruno Fernandes, Fred and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were handed much-needed rest.
Lingard was playing his first match for United in over three months since being involved during the Carabao Cup win over Brighton in September, but started the game in lively fashion with some fine link-up play.
The 28-year-old was eventually replaced with ten minutes left of the match but he did more than enough to impress midfield teammate McTominay.
Choose your man of the match vs Watford
"It is a squad game, as you've seen tonight," the Scot told BT Sport. "There are players who haven't played so on Tuesday [against Burnley] I'm sure there will be changes again.
"I feel like we've seen that with Jesse, with Donny, with guys like that tonight. Dan James in the first-half. Jesse was so, so good, he was causing real problems. It is a credit to him. He's had a tough time Jesse and I am so pleased for him."
Scotland international McTominay was not the only one impressed by Lingard with Solskjaer also praising the playmaker after the win.
Solskjaer told BT Sport: "He has been out for a while. He started brightly, but towards the end he was a little bit tired."
