Carrick Plays Down Relegation Fears As Man United Sink To 18th

Michael Carrick has played down fears that Manchester United are facing a Premier League relegation battle despite their dramatic 4-4 draw with Aston Villa leaving them in the bottom three.

United twice fought back from two-goal deficits at Old Trafford on Sunday, with injury-time strikes from Joshua Zirkzee and Patrick Dorgu rescuing a point after Villa had threatened to run away with the contest.

The result left United 18th after 10 matches, their lowest position at this stage of a season since 1986, while they have now gone eight league games without a win.

But Carrick insists there is still time to turn their fortunes around.

“We’re in November. I don’t like this situation or the results but we can definitely do something about it,” the United manager said when asked whether his side were in a relegation battle.

Carrick was disappointed that United failed to win despite their spirited recovery, blaming defensive lapses for making the contest unnecessarily difficult.

“I’m disappointed that we haven’t won the game. We looked the better team for long parts of it and we’re making it difficult for ourselves with the goals that we’re giving away,” he said.

“We’re not just giving away one, it’s two in succession that put us in such a difficult position. We did it the other night, we did it again today and have come back into the game and had a lot of the game, could have won it at the end.”

He added: “If we tighten up that, there’s a lot of good in that performance. I thought we should have won the game. But conceding the goals we are is not helping us at all.”

Former United captain Roy Keane, however, was unimpressed by Carrick’s explanation and questioned whether the manager had a clear plan to address the team’s problems.

“He’s under pressure, no doubt. He talks a lot but doesn’t say much. I don’t know if that’s a tactic. Like a politician,” Keane said.

“Like he keeps saying we need to tighten up and there’s things we need to work on. But they better get moving on that.”

Keane warned that United’s defensive problems would continue to cost them if they failed to make significant improvements.

Villa, meanwhile, remain 10th after extending their unbeaten Premier League run to seven matches.