Albion have boosted their challenge for the Championship play-offs by landing hot prospect Jesse Lingard on loan from Manchester United.

The 21-year-old striker has signed for the Seagulls for the rest of the season on a 93-day deal, including the play-offs, and goes straight into contention for Saturday's trip to Millwall.

Lingard scored six goals in 13 games on loan to Championship rivals Birmingham earlier this season, including four in the space of 31 minutes on his full League debut in a 4-1 home win against Sheffield Wednesday in September.

He also netted in a 4-0 home win against Millwall the following month.

Birmingham wanted him back but Albion have beaten off interest from them and other Championship clubs to capture the England under 21 international.

Head coach Oscar Garcia said: "We are delighted we have finally secured Jesse until the end of the season. He is one of the most exciting young English strikers and has already created a lot of interest following his successful loan spell at Birmingham City earlier this season.

"We worked hard to secure a talent who has already shown he can play at Championship level, and I am very pleased to have added Jesse to our striking options for the rest of the season.

"He has an excellent pedigree, having come through the academy at Old Trafford, and there is no doubt that he has a lot of talent and ability; I am really looking forward to working with him.

"There were many clubs interested in signing him, so we are very grateful to David Moyes and all those at Manchester United for allowing him to come to us here at Brighton & Hove Albion."

Lingard is highly regarded by Moyes. He top scored with four goals in as many games on United's pre-season tour of Australia and Asia and was an unused sub for last month's Premier League fixture against Swansea.

Albion tried to sign Lingard in January, when he was also linked with a move to Fulham.

Albion's head of football operations David Burke said: "Jesse has a lot of natural ability and is someone we have been aware of for some time, along with several other Premier League and Championship clubs he was one of our main targets during the transfer window.

"However, he wasn't available to us at that stage, but knowing that he was likely to become available we made the decision to wait as we felt we had a good chance of bringing him here.

"It was a case of convincing him and Manchester United that Brighton & Hove Albion was the next step for Jesse's development. We are delighted that hard work and patience has paid off."

Lingard joins Albion fresh from scoring the only goal for Manchester United's under 21's against Sunderland on Monday night, which prompted coach Warren Joyce to label him "different class".