Jesse Lingard to put friendships with Raheem Sterling and Co on hold ahead of the Manchester derby: 'On the pitch, there are no friends'

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Jesse Lingard has revealed that any friendships with Pep Guardiola's players are put to one side during the Manchester derby.

Manchester City go into the huge encounter eight points clear of Manchester United, as Jose Mourinho's side look to hand their noisy neighbours their first loss of the season.

Lingard knows a lot of his opponents personally and has a close relationship with Raheem Sterling but he has insisted that all goes out of the window when they're on the pitch.

Jesse Lingard (centre) insists he is close friends off the pitch with Raheem Sterling (left)

'You know quite a lot of them [City's Academy players] growing up, and through the England set-up as well,' Lingard told United Review, Sunday's official match-day programme.

'I'm good friends with Raheem [Sterling] off the pitch. But when you're on the pitch, there are no friends and we're there to do a job and win the game.'

The Red Devils forward has found his form as of late, scoring three times and notching an assist in his last two league games, which included a brace against Arsenal at the Emirates.

The 24-year-old is optimistic that United can overcome the league leaders and close the gap to five points. 

'I am confident,' Lingard said. 'It's two great teams going out there and you don't know what the game is going to be like.

'It might be a battle; it might not be pretty. But if we come out on top, it's always good for the city of Manchester. We need to make sure that Manchester is red at the end of the day. Like us, they have lots of big players.

Lingard says he has got to know some of City's players in the England set-up

The 22-year-old Sterling is in a rich vein of form having scored nine goals so far this season

'When [Kevin] De Bruyne's on the ball, he's always got that eye for a killer pass that can put a player one on one with the keeper, and Raheem Sterling's been popping up with the late goals.

'It's going to be full-on for 90-plus minutes. We need to be on point until that whistle goes, so everyone needs to stay highly-concentrated throughout.

'As long as we start the game well, like we did at Arsenal, I don't see any reason why we can't win.'