Carrick In Contention For Arsenal Clash

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has revealed Michael Carrick is available to return for a key Barclays Premier League game at Arsenal.

The experienced midfielder missed the win over Wolfsburg in the Champions League on Wednesday with a minor problem but was named in Roy Hodgson's latest England squad on Thursday.

"Carrick can play so I have a choice," van Gaal told MUTV. "I am happy to say there are no injuries from last night."

Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin filled the defensive midfield slots against the Bundesliga outfit so the manager has a decision to make regarding his line-up.

The Reds travel to London to face the Gunners on Sunday after going top of the table with the 3-0 win over Sunderland last weekend.

Morale is high in the camp with the leaders in good spirits ahead of a visit to the scene of van Gaal's first away win as United manager last season. Arsene Wenger's men looked to be hitting top gear when winning 5-2 at Leicester City but suffered a shock midweek home reverse to Olympiacos in Europe.

Van Gaal explained why the players have been given a day off on Friday ahead of the big game as he is wary of any tiredness creeping into his squad.

"The solution is recovery, recovery, recovery," he stated at his pre-match press conference. "That is why it’s so difficult to prepare for the match against Arsenal. As a manager, you want to prepare on the pitch and you cannot do it because you need freshness of the players, so then there’s also another solution - to change your squad.

"So we have to see how the evaluation is from my fatigue specialist. I cannot tell that because the press conference is one day after the match. Tomorrow, they have a day off because they’ve already had two weeks with no day off. We have to wait and see for Saturday and then I can make decisions."