Roy Keane tells Jesse Lingard ‘no more excuses’ after early Nottingham Forest struggles

Roy Keane says Jesse Lingard’s problems at Nottingham Forest are of his own making after the 30-year-old pulled out of his side’s EFL Cup semi-final second leg against Manchester United with an injury just before kick off.

Lingard has struggled to make an impact at Forest since joining from United in the summer, and Keane says there’s no excuse for how poor his recent form has been.

Speaking ahead of the game on Wednesday evening, the Irishman said: “We can be here all night talking about excuses for players, it’s a new club, Forest are struggling at the start of the season … but [Lingard] has got to go out and perform.

READ MORE: Jesse Lingard ‘eased pain by drinking before bed’ as he battled demons

“He hasn’t really got going at Forest, but I think that comes down to the player. You can make all the excuses in the world, Jesse’s back at Old Trafford tonight, he knows the stadium, big pitch, he’s getting an opportunity again to perform with some huge league games coming up – take your chance.

“There’s a few injuries, he’s got that opportunity so go and take it, no more excuses, Jesse’s had plenty of excuses over the last few years.”

Lingard has failed to score in 14 league matches so far this season and has looked short of confidence in a side that up until recently was languishing at the very foot of the Premier League.

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It comes after Lingard admitted he used to drink alcohol before bed to deal with the “pain” of online abuse from fans.

Speaking on the dark period of his life on the Diary of a CEO podcast, Lingard said: “I was drinking before bed, having a nightcap. I look back now and think, ‘what was I doing that for?’.

“But I needed something to try and take the pain away. I was trying to forget what was going on, but it makes it 10 times worse.”

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