Carrick: We Will Keep Chasing

Midfielder Michael Carrick insists Manchester United will not stop in the pursuit of Barclays Premier League front-runners Manchester City and Chelsea.

Louis van Gaal’s men lie third in the table after beating Newcastle United on Boxing Day to make it seven wins from the last eight league games, with City (seven points ahead of United) and Chelsea (10 points in front) lying in second and first place respectively.

Next up for the Reds is a trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday lunchtime, before a New Year’s Day visit to Stoke City. Carrick knows both games will be tricky tests but says confidence is high within the United camp.

"The signs have been good in recent weeks," the midfielder told ManUtd.com. "We were bitterly disappointed not to win last week [at Aston Villa] but we beat Newcastle and now have two big away games. They will be a good test for us to see where we are at.

"We’re continuing to look up and will continue to try to catch them [City and Chelsea]. We’re not satisfied with third – it’s obviously an improvement and we’re getting better, but we want to keep looking up.

"Going to Tottenham is always a tough game and to go there two days after the Newcastle match at 12 noon makes it very tough. But we have to get ourselves ready for that and it’s the same for them as well. It’s a game we look forward to and we go there confident."

The Reds were at their free-flowing best in the win over the Magpies at Old Trafford, with the attacking play between Wayne Rooney, Falcao, Juan Mata and Robin van Persie really catching the eye.

"That’s four world-class players you’re talking about there. Going in to a game with those lads in your team gives us a real threat and a lot of confidence, knowing we can create chances and score goals," added Carrick.

"It clicked together nicely [against Newcastle] and hopefully in the weeks coming up we’ll see something similar. We had good possession, created some chances and looked dangerous. They started early on the counter-attack and that was something we had to be careful of. I thought we dominated the game and won it well in the end.

"Results breed confidence and the manager has been able to make more of a consistent selection, which helps. We’ve still had to change a couple of the defenders around a little [because of injuries] but, all in all, it’s been more of a consistent selection and I think that has helped us."