Carrick Urges Caution

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick was as delighted as anyone following the Reds’ 3-0 win over Olympiacos on Wednesday, but the England international has urged caution over getting too carried away with the result.

United’s no.16, who started the game against the Greeks alongside the effervescent Ryan Giggs in midfield, says the players never gave up hope of progressing to the Champions League quarter-final stage and he hopes the Reds can build on the performance and result in the forthcoming fixtures.

“We never believed we were out of the tie,” Carrick told us. “We were really positive before the game and believed we could put in a performance to get through. There were a lot of eyes on us and a lot of questions being asked, but we knew there was a performance in there and we managed to pull it off.

"We’re not getting carried away though because this season has been a case of one step forward and a couple of steps back at times. We’re conscious of that and conscious that we need to get some consistency. Just when we think we’ve cracked it and we’re on the way up, a result comes along that we don’t expect. So we’ll enjoy this one but we’re equally focused on the important games coming up."

The midfielder was also keen to thank the fans for their recent vociferous support, even in the face of last weekend’s defeat against Liverpool.

“The way they’ve been with us lately has been incredible and it’s not gone unnoticed by the boys,” added the playmaker. “The Liverpool game especially was something I’ve never really witnessed – for the team to be in the position we were in and for the fans to respond like they did and get behind us has spurred us on a lot.

“Wednesday’s game has not repaid them because the game has gone on Sunday and we’ll always have lost it, but at the same time beating Olympiacos gave them something to be cheerful about.”

Michael was speaking to ManUtd.com, MUTV and BBC Radio.