Jesse Lingard scored twice on his West Ham debut last night and afterwards received a message of support from Nottingham Forest player James Garner.
The 19-year-old is on loan at the City Ground from Manchester United and made his debut in Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Coventry City.
Lingard is also on loan at the London Stadium and helped his new club to a 3-1 win over Aston Villa.
The pair have clearly spent time playing alongside each other at Manchester United and Garner was buzzing for his United teammate.
After West Ham’s stunning performance the Forest marvel took to Instagram to praise the 28-year-old.
Garner and Lingard will be trying to prove themselves during their respective loans for various reasons.
The on-loan Forest star will hold aspirations of making the grade at Old Trafford.
He is highly-respected by the club and will fancy his chances of one day making an impact.
For Lingard the challenge is slightly different.
His days of playing regularly at United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is probably keen to head in a different direction now.
The aim for the forward is to play as much football as possible and earn himself a permanent deal in the summer.
Garner might view Lingard as an inspiration.
He spent time out on loan with Birmingham, Brighton and Derby before making the grade with United.
Lingard now has 210 appearances to his name for the Red Devils, scoring 33 goals.
Garner is only just starting out on his path but Lingard could be seen as something of a role model.
Solid debut
With some Watford fans less than impressed with the youngster, Forest fans were anxious ahead of Tuesday.
They needn’t have been though, with Garner showcasing a passing radar that has rarely been seen at the City Ground this season.
The teenager was spraying balls all over the park and clearly likes to get his head up and play forwards.
Consistency is now the key and Forest fans will be excited to see more of Garner this season.
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