Carrick rules out Shaw for Champions League opener to protect him ahead of Manchester derby

Luke Shaw has been omitted from Manchester United’s squad for their Champions League opener against Sabah, with interim manager Michael Carrick confirming the left-back was withdrawn as a precaution ahead of the Manchester derby in three days’ time.

Shaw missed Wednesday’s training session after picking up cramp in United’s previous match, and Carrick chose not to risk him even on the bench. “He came off the other day with a little bit of cramp, so we didn’t want to take any risks,” Carrick said. “We’re trying to manage him so we’ll see how he is after this one.”

Patrick Dorgu steps in at left-back for the Sabah fixture, with Noussair Mazraoui, Leny Yoro and Benjamin Sesko also coming into the starting XI. Carrick acknowledged the rotation was deliberate, saying: “We wanted to change a little bit and freshen things up. We’re trying to get the balance right. We’ve got a good squad, we can change, we just didn’t want to change too many because it’s not easy playing in a team with too many changes.”

United head into the tie having taken just one win from their opening three Premier League games against Hull, Ipswich and Everton, and Carrick has been at pains to frame the slow start as a results problem rather than a performance one. “We’ve improved a lot of our play from last season,” he said. “I know we haven’t had the results to totally match that up, but I think there are a lot of promising things in our performances.”

Carrick pointed to United’s attacking output as a relative bright spot while acknowledging defensive lapses need addressing. “Our attacking play has been good, our combination play has been good, creating chances and scoring goals. We don’t want to be conceding goals like we have, but we’re on a decent track at the moment.”

With the Manchester derby looming, Shaw’s availability for that fixture will be the more pressing concern, and Carrick’s decision to keep him entirely out of the matchday squad suggests the club is prioritising the left-back’s fitness for the higher-stakes domestic clash.