My cousin is Man Utd FA Cup hero – now he’s helping me through my injury hell so I can shine for women’s team
GABBY GEORGE is leaning on her superstar cousin Jesse Lingard to help her return from a lengthy injury.
George, 27, has missed 11 months of action after suffering an ruptured ACL last October, just one month after joining Manchester United women from Everton.
George, who came through the youth ranks at Man Utd like her cousin Lingard, re-joined the Red Devils after leaving for Everton at the start of her career.
But her emotional return to Manchester was scuppered when, after just three appearances, she ruptured her ACL and saw her season come to an end before it had even really begun.
It wasn’t the first time that she had suffered the devastating injury either, falling to the same fate back in 2020 for the Toffees and missing a year of football.
But as well as the experience of going through the rebab before, George has the advantage of relying on a knowledgeable family member to guide he through the tough times.
Lingard, who now plies his trade in Korea with FC Seoul, has missed over 100 games throughout his career with injury and knows a thing or two about how to bounce back.
George has been able to rely on Lingard during her recovery and is hoping that his help will act as a springboard for her to burst back onto the scene this season.
Speaking to MUTV, she said: “I’ve spoke to Jesse quite a lot about my rehab.
“I think it is hard to describe the emotions that you go through when you have an injury; there are ups and there are downs like anything in life.
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“It’s difficult to put into terms when it is something so big to you.
“Obviously I have played football for however long and when it is something that is taken away from you, it has been important to have Jesse around, well not around but having him on the phone with him being in Korea now!
“My family have been amazing for me, my little sister she has been amazing for me and to have people around me to just have something else to think about.”
Lingard made 232 appearances for Man Utd and will go down in history as an FA Cup hero for the club thanks to his extra-time winner against Crystal Palace in 2016.
Now George is hoping to write her own history for the club, but first she is focusing on building up her fitness and minutes during pre-season.
She explained: “Obviously minutes are important in pre-season especially when I haven’t played for so long, there hasn’t been the chance to build-up those connections with everyone.
“Everyone is doing the same thing but we obviously want to get minutes, build as a team, build our connections and I think that is the most important thing for pre-season and that is on and off the pitch.”