Jesse Lingard receives the Man Utd farewell he deserves after being forced off with injury

Jesse Lingard received a lovely reception from Manchester United fans after being forced off with an injury during his return.

Lingard spent 22 years with United, graduating from the club's academy to make 231 appearances for his boyhood side.

Now with Nottingham Forest, Lingard played at Old Trafford as an opposition player for the first time on Tuesday evening.

He told SPORTbible prior to the game: "It'll be good to hopefully get a send-off. Obviously I didn't do one last time. So, It'll be good to see the fans and my old teammates again.

"But we’ll be going there to win. It's not about seeing friends again. It's an important game, which we need to win."

He did get that farewell, but earlier than he'd have liked. Check out the footage below.

Lingard went down early in the second half holding his hamstring, which was heavily taped beneath his shorts.

Forest's physio quickly came onto the field for a chat with Lingard. It looked like both parties knew this was the end of the line.

The 30-year-old got to his feet to walk off the pitch at the far side as Lewis O'Brien replaced him. United fans that saw Lingard limping off decided to give him a rousing reception. Lingard responded by clapping back himself in a show of solidarity.

Despite the criticism he received in his final years at United, he was a valuable part of their recent history.

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He scored the winner in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace in 2016, while also getting on the scoresheet in Carabao Cup victory over Southampton a year later.

It's why interim manager Ralf Rangnick's decision to leave him on the bench during his final home game back in May confused everyone involved with the club.

During a 3-0 win over Brentford, Rangnick chose to give several players a swan song prior to the expiry of their contracts.

Juan Mata and Nemanja Matic started the game, with Edinson Cavani coming off the bench. The trio would leave United at the end of the season, as would Lingard, who didn't manage to get on.

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United ultimately defeated Forest 3-0 in their return to Premier League action to strengthen their top four credentials.

Marcus Rashford put United ahead in the first half thanks to a lovely corner routine before Anthony Martial doubled their lead three minutes later.

Forest thought they'd halved the deficit just before the break through Willy Boly. However, VAR concluded the defender was offside. Fred would add a third for the Red Devils late in the second half to seal a dominant win.

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