Carrick Excited By Additions

Michael Carrick says the arrival of a host of new faces at Old Trafford has lifted everyone at the club.

Sir Alex unveiled his fourth capture of the transfer window on Friday morning, Dutch left-back Alexander Büttner, with a deal for Chilean striker Angelo Henriquez expected to make it five summer signings early next week.

The arrivals of Büttner and Henriquez follow the acquisitions of renowned Dutch striker Robin van Persie from Arsenal, Japanese playmaker Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund and promising midfielder Nick Powell from Crewe. An increase in numbers in the squad has also meant an increase in the competition for places, but Carrick insists that can only be positive for the Reds.

“When you see top players come through the door it gives everyone a big lift,” Carrick told ManUtd.com. “It puts everyone in a positive mood because it means the team is moving forward, but you also know you’ve got to play well to stay in the team and that helps keep the standards high.

“It’s up to us to learn the strengths of the new players and for them to fit in to our system and I’m sure we’ll get better as the season goes on. At this stage though it’s about picking up points and we need to start doing that.”

Following the 1-0 defeat at Everton on Monday night, Carrick says attentions have been firmly fixed on ensuring the Reds take maximum points from the opening home game against Fulham.

“Monday night was a bit of a setback, but since then we’ve just tried to stay focused and concentrate on the next game,” added Carrick, who's likely to play at centre-back again on Saturday. “We knew it was going to be a hard match, that wasn’t something that surprised us. It’s [a first defeat] happened early on in the season, a lot earlier than we hoped for and expected, so it’s important we now get a run of wins together and build up some momentum.

“I don’t think the Everton result makes the Fulham game any more important. There is pressure in every game at this club no matter what match it is. We won’t approach Saturday any differently to what we normally do, but on the back of last Monday it would obviously be nice to get some points on the board.

“Fulham have started the season well. They scored five goals in their opening game and will be full of confidence. It’ll be a different task for us compared to the Everton game, but if we do the things we want to do then we’ll hopefully be a big threat to them.

“One game isn’t going to change the course of our season,” he continued. “Obviously it would have been nice to get a win in our first match but we didn’t and we have to move on. The longer the season goes on the more the new signings will settle in and the team will gel and improve. It’s now about getting some wins under our belts and picking up some momentum.”

Michael was talking to ManUtd.com, BBC Radio and Key 103.