Michael Carrick says Manchester United’s players will not allow protests from fans to affect their push for a third straight win under him.
United host Fulham at Old Trafford on Sunday, with head coach Carrick aiming to maintain his 100 per cent record, after stunning wins over Manchester City and Arsenal.
Sunday’s game will be played against a backdrop of rancour, with United fan group The 1958 expecting upwards of 6,000 supporters to join their pre-match march to protest against the Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The 1958 group view Ratcliffe – in charge of football operations – as being complicit with the Glazers, with United currently around £1.1billion in debt, including millions in outstanding transfer payments.
Despite the mutinous edge set for the build-up to the lunchtime game, Carrick said he expects United fans to get behind their team and show their unconditional support, despite their anger towards those running the club.
‘It doesn’t affect the team,’ said Carrick. ‘I fully respect the supporters. They’re incredible. They have been for so long and had a lot of ups and some downs as well, but, you know, I’m not offended by it or anything, and the players certainly aren’t.
Michael Carrick has insisted that Manchester United fans’ protests will not affect his team
United hope to beat Fulham on Sunday after back-to-back wins over Man City and Arsenal
The 1958 group are expecting more than 6,000 fans to join their pre-match protest
‘Within the stadium, the support we’ve felt, and that’s been there for all the games that I’ve watched for quite some time, has been of the highest level and I’m sure it will continue to be like that.
‘The connection we’ve had over the last couple of weeks has been pretty special and we’ve both fed off that. I think the supporters have fed off it. We have as a group, the players certainly have, and that’s something we need to keep building on moving forward, because that’s exactly how we wanted it to be.
‘I think we’ve had a good couple of weeks and we’re moving in the right direction. We want to keep building on that. I think that’s part of the focus here, it’s never be satisfied with what we’ve just done and keep moving forward.
‘Off the pitch, whatever goes on in and around the club, it’s not really for for us as a playing group to worry about and let that affect performances, you know?
‘I think it’s what we feel, what we can grasp at the minute, and we feel the upmost support from the supporters as much as ever, and that’s where we want to keep moving towards.’
United’s two wins under Carrick have moved them up to fourth in the Premier League and put them firmly in the mix to secure a Champions League place, with 15 games left to play.
Carrick knows Fulham will play a different way to City and Arsenal, but said the challenge of facing Marco Silva’s side is just as big as taking on Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta’s teams.
‘With Marco and Fulham as a team, I think it’s as big a test as what we’ve had,’ said Carrick. ‘So it’s really not a case of looking at this any differently.
‘It’s another game in front of us. We’ve got to put so many things in place and carry the emotion and the intensity and everything that goes into whatever game we play and show the utmost respect to any team.
‘They’re on a great run. They’re not far behind us in the league and they’re there for a reason, so it’s a big challenge for us.
‘Unpredictable things can happen within the game, but in terms of what I’ve seen, the reaction from the last game, coming back into the training and the focus, if anything, it’s gone up even more, and the intensity in the training is a very, very good level. So that’s all I can ask for.’
