Carrick: It's A Strange Feeling

Michael Carrick admitted it was something of a "strange night" as Manchester United lost 2-1 at Hull City but secured passage to the EFL Cup final with a 3-2 aggregate win.

The Reds booked a date with Southampton at Wembley on 26 February despite seeing the 17-game unbeaten run come to an end at the KCOM Stadium.

"It’s a bit of a strange feeling, if I’m honest," Carrick conceded to MUTV, after Oumar Niasse's late goal gave the Tigers victory on the night.

"As a one-off game we’re very disappointed with losing but the bigger picture is we’re going to the cup final and we can take plenty of delight from that. So it’s a bit of a strange night."

Paul Pogba’s second-half equaliser, after Tom Huddlestone had put the hosts ahead from the penalty spot, proved crucial for the Reds and Carrick praised his team-mate for finding the back of the net.

"I’m pleased for Paul to score," the midfielder said. "It was important we did score tonight, especially the way the game was going. It was a good finish from Paul, some good work down the left [from Marcus Rashford] and a good finish that put us in a good position."

United conceded a contentious penalty in the first half that Huddlestone converted but Carrick was pleased with the way his side put the setback behind them.

"Things like that can change the course of games; luckily it didn’t affect us and we’ve gone through," the 35-year-old said.

"The close calls aren’t going our way at the moment. We haven’t had a penalty since Fenerbahce [on 20 October] and we’ve only had three all season, I believe, but at some point our luck’s got to turn.

"We’re getting in good positions often enough and we just want reward for that, but we’re through and we’ll take that."

United are through to another appearance at Wembley and Carrick was happy to be returning to the scene of May’s FA Cup triumph.

"That was a special day and one that we can take confidence from," he added. "It was the first time some of the boys had been to a cup final so that was a big thing for them.

"It’s always nice to win and take the memories with you. We’ve also been there for the Community Shield and won that [against Leicester] so hopefully we can carry that on.”