Manchester United‘s players will use their anger over Sunday’s defeat in the Old Trafford derby – and sense of injustice at Erling Haaland’s winning goal – as motivation to overcome a dismal start to the season.
United are still fuming over the decision to allow Haaland’s goal to stand, even though his Manchester City teammate Enzo Fernandez was in an offside position and interfering with play, after referees’ bosses admitted that the VAR officials made a mistake.
Michael Carrick’s side have taken just four points from their opening four Premier League games ahead of Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup tie against Brighton at Old Trafford, and the head coach believes the City controversy will fire up his players to recover from their poor start.
‘It does give you something to use moving forward when something like that happens,’ admitted Carrick.
‘The players have got an edge. I think they’ve shown that to me since I’ve been here. We’ve had setbacks, and they’ve bounced back particularly well and had some really good performances and good results.
‘We’ve got to move on. We’ve still got to look at it for ourselves, and we’ve got to win games. We’ve won a lot of games, and we need to continue to do that.
Michael Carrick insists his angry Man United stars will use the Manchester derby as motivation
Manchester City triumphed 1-0 over their rivals on Sunday courtesy of a controversial VAR call
‘I understand it’s a new season, and the points tally right now is not what we want it to be – I’m not hiding from that. It’s getting that winning feeling, getting the habit. It’s easier said than done, of course, but we’re capable of it.’
First, United are in cup action against Premier League rivals Brighton, who knocked them out of the FA Cup at Old Trafford in the last game before Carrick took over in January.
The United boss may rotate his squad, but admits that he cannot risk another setback by making too many changes after tweaking the line-up against Sabah in the Champions League last week.
‘Obviously, there are decisions that we have to make,’ he added. ‘It’s important for us to win football matches, and it’s important that we manage the squad as well and keep everyone up to speed; keep everyone ready and part of it. But we’re certainly going into Wednesday trying to win the game.’
Carrick is waiting to see if Luke Shaw is available to return at left-back after he was replaced by Patrick Dorgu against Sabah and City, with Amad Diallo and Matthijs De Ligt still working their way back to fitness.
‘He (Shaw) could possibly be fit for Brighton, but it’s not clear-cut,’ said Carrick. ‘It’s a matter of a few days rather than anything else.
‘Pat played fantastically well the other night (against Sabah), and I thought he did a lot of good things (against City). That’s why we’ve got the squad, to fill in different things. Injuries aren’t ideal, but we’ve got to deal with them.
‘Amad is not quite close in terms of days, but we’ll see as the week progresses. And Matta’s just working his way back really. Because of how it’s been, I don’t really want to put too much of a timeframe on it.’
Referee body Pro Ref have since admitted they made an error allowing Erling Haaland’s winner
Carrick also revealed that Luke Shaw, who was absent for Sunday’s derby, is nearing a return
Carlos Baleba has also started training at Carrington after recovering from the ankle injury he sustained before completing a £70million move from Brighton to United in the summer.
Baleba won’t be ready to face his old club, but Carrick said: ‘He’ll be back in and around the group at some point over the next week or so. That means he should be in good shape after the international break.
‘Carlos came here injured and then he’s desperate to get out there and be part of the group and train fully with the boys. He’s a quality player, that’s why we brought him.’
