Carrick: Let's Get Our Season Back On Track

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick is targeting a return to winning ways in the Premier League after helping the Reds to end a three-game losing streak with Wednesday's 3-1 win over Northampton Town.

Carrick was naturally delighted to be on the scoresheet for the first time in eight months as his team booked a place in the next round of the EFL Cup.

"It was a nice feeling to score,” he said, when speaking to MUTV at Sixfields Stadium. “I don’t get too many goals and I certainly haven’t lately. It was nice to get one."

Although Carrick netted after just 17 minutes, it wasn’t plain sailing for United as Northampton came back to equalise from the penalty spot shortly before the break. The midfielder revealed how the players felt after not finding the back of the net with numerous other chances in the first half.

"We were frustrated at half-time," he said. "There were little things that could have been done and sloppy things cost us. We put ourselves in a tough position.

"Those little things can be changed. But we had a decent second half, we finished the game off and we’re delighted to be through to the next round."

Carrick felt his fellow midfielder Ander Herrera played an important part in the second-half improvement.

"Individual performances set us up," said Carrick. "Ander's goal was a terrific strike with his left finish and a good way for us to go 2-1 up. He put us in a good position to see the game out from there."

Unusually for United in the early rounds of the League Cup, Jose Mourinho's line-up, while still much-changed from Sunday's game at Watford, consisted mainly of experienced stars. Tim Fosu-Mensah was the only starter aged under 20.

"Often when you make a lot of changes, you might bring in a number of young promising lads in," said Carrick. “But I think if you look at the team tonight, it was pretty much all senior players. I think it’s what the manager wants. He wants a strong team and we’ve got a lot of strong seniors in our squad.

"As a player you’re going to sit out some games. You’ve got to be ready and be prepared for when you’re called upon and that’s what I want to do."

Carrick, who only has one winner’s medal in the competition, told MUTV about his desire to win the EFL Cup this season and silverware in general.

"I'm desperate to win trophies," he said. "That’s why we’re here and it’s why I’m still playing. We’ve said from day one of this season that we want to be challenging at the end of it."

The win at Sixfields Stadium brought United out of a spell of three consecutive losses and Carrick wants the positive reaction to continue in the weekend's Premier League clash with champions Leicester City.

"We had a setback last week," admitted Carrick, "but it’s not going to finish off our season. It’s about how we react to it. We had a good start with the first three or four games of the season and we want to get back to winning. We did that tonight.

"It’s a big game on Saturday and we want to get our season back on the right road. Come the end of the season we want to be challenging."