Carrick urges Man United to channel derby 'injustice' into Carabao Cup resolve against Brighton

Michael Carrick has called on Manchester United to turn the lingering fury over their contentious derby defeat into a driving force as they face Brighton in the Carabao Cup at Old Trafford on Wednesday. The result leaves United with only four points from four Premier League fixtures, a return Carrick openly acknowledged falls short of expectations.

Sunday’s 1-0 home loss to Manchester City was compounded by a disputed winning goal from Erling Haaland, which stood despite an offside interference by Enzo Fernandez in the build-up. Pro Ref subsequently contacted United to acknowledge an “error of judgment” in allowing the goal to stand — a ruling that defender Lisandro Martinez labelled “unacceptable” and an “injustice”.

Carrick said the episode has left a sharp edge in his squad that he intends to harness. “The players have got an edge,” he said. “I think they’ve shown that to me since I’ve been here. We’ve had setbacks and they’ve bounced back particularly well and had some really good performances and good results, so they’ve got an edge. It does give you something when something like that happens to use moving forward.”

Despite the frustration, the United manager was measured about the broader picture. “We’ve got to move on. We’ve still got to look at it for ourselves and we’ve got to win games. I understand it’s a new season, it’s a fresh season and the points tally right now is not what we want it to be, so I’m not hiding from that. But it’s more of getting winning games, getting that feeling, getting the habit.”

The cup tie presents an immediate opportunity to rebuild momentum, though Brighton arrive in strong form after a 5-0 win at Coventry on Sunday. The Seagulls have won four of their last five visits to Old Trafford across all competitions, including an FA Cup victory in January — shortly before Carrick took charge — which extended a painful domestic cup record that also featured an early Carabao Cup exit at Grimsby.

Carrick was unambiguous about the importance of silverware to his tenure. “For me, trophies is the beauty and the feeling of winning is what we’re in football for, what we’re in sport for, and certainly what I’m at this club for is to try and win,” he said. “Trophies and achieving things and giving supporters that feeling of the emotion of that is important, definitely.”

Carrick indicated that defender Luke Shaw could potentially feature, though the source material was truncated before full fitness details were confirmed.