Jesse Lingard rues missed chance during home debut but pass was "perfect" | OneFootball

Jesse Lingard rues the golden chance he missed in the Gyeongin Derby but says that it won't affect his confidence. The former Manchester United attacking midfielder also says that it's all about mindset and building confidence as a team.

Around 20 minutes into FC Seoul's home opener against Incheon United on Sunday, Jesse Lingard put on a bright yellow bib and went to warm up. His light run towards the corner flag was greeted with a round of applause from much of the 50,000 who had come to see him make his home debut.

Lingard warming up alone - and not doing so with the rest of the substitutes - was a signal that he was about to come on and much earlier than fans might have anticipated. First-half substitutions are common in K League, largely due to managers hooking their youngsters early doors to get around the U22 player rule.

But Lee Tae-seok, FC Seoul's first-choice left back, was the U22 player who started on Sunday and was having a solid first 30 minutes, so Lingard coming on wasn't about circumventing the U22 rule.

Instead, manager Kim Gi-dong had seen enough and Japanese midfielder Takuya Shigehiro was brought off. It was much earlier than the manager had planned and, likewise, quicker than the player had expected.

"Yeah, it was earlier than I predicted, to be honest," said Lingard when asked byK League United in the post-match press conference. "But [Kim Gi-dong] told me to play [number] 10 and try get in between the lines. We did first half, they made it a bit more difficult second half.

"It was a bit more compact in the middle, they made us play wide to get the ball in the box but we've got to come up against different teams this season, you know some teams might give you a little bit more space in the middle, some teams unfortunately wide so it's down to us players on the pitch to recognize where the space is going to be and trying to hurt them through that."

Lingard managed 22 minutes against Gwangju and 70 against Incheon, slowly getting minutes under his belt. FC Seoul fans will be wondering and hoping that Lingard will soon be able to start games.

"I'm still building. I played six, seven games pre-season - 45 minutes plus. Like I say, I came on a bit earlier than expected today. As a sub, you've got to be ready. Of course, I've not played a full 90 in a very long time. I'm going to fatigue a little bit, I'm going to get tired a little bit. But, the energy is there from the crowd. It kept me going. They're behind us 100%. To see 50,000 people turn up today was amazing support from everyone."

The moment FC Seoul fans had waited for, a clear look at goal for Lingard, came in the 82nd minute. Kang Seong-jin, also on a sub, had done well to find Lingard on the edge of the box and put it on a plate for him.

But Lingard's shot blazed over the bar, leading to him looking down at the turf almost in embarrassment.

"The ball was perfect. It took a little bobble just as I hit it. Other than that, the run was great, the pass was great and, like I say, it just bobbled up last minute."

Lingard cut a frustrated figure at times but, he says, he's not going to get too down.

"Maybe that's our luck at the moment but that's not going to get us down. We're still going to be confident and try and get on the ball. You can't let any little mistakes affect how you play. So, um, you know, it'll never get my confidence down. We've gotta keep on going. Now it's about mindset and building confidence as a team."

FC Seoul take on Jeju United at home this Saturday looking for their first win and goals of the season.