Carrick: We're Disappointed, Not Disheartened

Michael Carrick insists his Manchester United team-mates are “disappointed but not disheartened” after losing 1-0 to local rivals Manchester City on Sunday.

The Reds played most of the derby with 10 men after Chris Smalling was sent off for a second bookable offence, which prompted Carrick to make his first appearance of the season – and his maiden game under Louis van Gaal - as an emergency centre-back.

A second-half injury to Marcos Rojo then led to Paddy McNair also coming on in defence as United tried to overcome City with one less player. While Sergio Aguero managed to score the game’s winning goal, the Reds showed plenty of fighting spirit in testing circumstances.

United now have 13 points from 10 Barclays Premier League matches and while he would like more, Carrick feels the squad is ultimately moving in the right direction.

“It was disappointing really,” he told Sky Sports. “We had to play with 10 men but the longer the game went on, we felt we could get a chance to nick one and we had a couple of opportunities where we felt it might have fallen for us. So in the end, even though we had 10 men for such a long time, we are disappointed to come away with nothing.

“It could have been a draw. They had opportunities at times, which you would probably expect with us being a man down. We feel that maybe we’ve left a goal out there and we are disappointed but not disheartened.

“I know the points tally is very disappointing because it is nowhere near good enough for us, but at the same time, there are signs there that things can come good and they will do.”

Asked if Smalling had said anything about his dismissal in the changing room, Carrick explained that his team-mate was understandably frustrated. “It was half-time and we were focusing on what we were going to do in the second half. He is obviously disappointed to be sent off in a game like that, but it happens and you have to deal with it.

“I thought we dealt with it okay actually, with me playing at centre-half,” continued Michael. “It was a bit of a test in the second half but we dealt with it okay. As I said, the longer it went on, we thought we might have nicked it."

On a personal level, Carrick was pleased to make his comeback from injury - even if the result was not as satisfactory. “It was my first game back in six months, since the end of last season, so it was a bit of test for me to come on at centre-half. I enjoyed it, it was nice to be back and I have certainly missed it, being out for so long. We will see who is fit and who we can patch up for next week.”