Carrick Happy To Progress

By hook or by crook, United are through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League - and Michael Carrick cares not a jot that the Reds were below-par in overcoming Internazionale.

Goals from Nemanja Vidic and Cristiano Ronaldo carried the Reds past the Serie A champions at Old Trafford, as the visitors spurned a host of first-half opportunities and struck the woodwork twice.

"We weren't at our best and we know that," Carrick told MUTV. "But it's about getting through and we managed to do that with two good goals.

"We started very well. The atmosphere at the start was unbelievable. You could see how we started; We were really up for it and got the goal, but as the game ran on we didn't play as well as we could have and should have.

"Credit to them, they came back into the game and caused us a few problems. But we came out in the second half, scored again and after that we were in control. I know they had a couple of chances, but it doesn't really matter now. I always felt we were in control and we're very happy."

With the three other English contenders, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Villarreal and Porto awaiting in the quarter-final draw, Carrick has little preference as to who United face.

"They're all good teams at this stage so it's hard to pick any one or two out," he said. "But any game's going to be tough, we know that, so we'll be ready. European nights are always great occasions here, and hopefully there are more to come this season.