Carrick determined not to look too far ahead

Michael Carrick has enjoyed a phenomenal start to his second stint in charge of Manchester United, racking up six wins and a draw from his first seven games.

At some stage, he knows there is bound to be a defeat or a 'blip'.

The key is to make sure it does not become an extended sequence of negative results.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer started his time in charge of United in 2018-19 with eight successive wins. He ended the same season with eight defeats in 12 matches.

When Carrick took over at Middlesbrough in 2022, he won 15 of his first 21 games. He ended in with two wins in 10 as Boro crashed out at the play-off semi-final stage.

It is the kind of form reversal United need to avoid as they chase a spot in next season's Champions League, especially as, after Wednesday's trip to Newcastle, they have a home game against fellow European qualification hopefuls Aston Villa, and also have matches against Chelsea and Liverpool to come.

Carrick, typically, is not looking too far ahead.

"I'm always learning things as you go through and [things] you could have done a little bit better," he said.

"There is a lot of context, with different players and what the games look like.

"It's not so much guarding against it, it's living in the moment, keeping grounded and understanding what it takes to win games.

"We won't get carried away. You have to feed off the confidence and understand that runs of wins are hard to come by. We're hungry for more and want it for as long as it will last."