Jesse Lingard has praised the character of his Manchester United team-mates after their FA Cup quarter-final victory over Brighton. 

Jose Mourinho’s side eased into the quarter-finals with a comfortable 2-0 win over the Seasiders at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring just before half-time, notching his 25th goal of the season with a trademark header.

Nemanja Matic then sealed the win with a header of his own seven minutes before time.

The victory was a much needed confidence boost for the Red Devils after a disappointing mid-week defeat in the Champions League, and Lingard has hailed his side’s attitude against Brighton after what as a tough week at the club.

They [Brighton] sat back and hit us on the counter-attack a few times, which we were obviously aware of before the match, but we knew we needed to win tonight and we got the win, which was the most important thing,” he said.

“Of course [confidence took a knock after Tuesday night]. It’s always difficult for a team to be knocked out of a competition, but we showed the character tonight to bounce back and not let anything faze us.”

United will now take on Tottenham in the semi-finals of the competition after being drawn against Mauricio Pochettino’s side this afternoon.

And Lingard, who is enjoying his best season in a United shirt, is relishing the prospect of a trip to Wembley.

“Yes, of course [it’s always good to go back to Wembley],” he added. “Semi-finals are always big and it’s like the final, you could say, at a neutral ground, so we’re excited and we’ll see who we get in the draw,”he continued.

“Any opportunity to win a trophy is always good for the team and the fans, so if we can get a trophy out of the season, it’ll be good.

“The semi-final keeps everyone motivated and we have something to look forward to, but saying that, in the Premier League, we need to maintain that second spot and keep the pressure on at the top.”