Carrick: Manchester United not looking for excuses

They are not the only side near the top of the table to have looked unconvincing at times this season, but Lipton does not believe United are on the same level as Manchester City or Arsenal.

The midfielder – captaining United for their 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth in the absence of Wayne Rooney – says that injuries should not be an excuse for a run of five games with victory.

“When we were coming back from Bournemouth all I could think about was the frustration of the defeat, the disappointment of those who came with us, those who watched the game on TV, those who were with us in Germany…”

“It was really important we didn’t lose the momentum we had built after the Chelsea game”.

“We knew we could catch them cold and it came down to the bit of inexperience they had in their team, especially in the back four”. “You see how tight it is down the bottom, that’s given us a huge lift at a key time”.

Manager Howe hailed an unprecedented week for Bournemouth, following the 1-0 win at Chelsea, backing the promoted club to win their fight for Premier League safety.

He replied: “It is not my character to leap around. Of course, I am concerned because this is not usual for United”.

“Not sure things can get much worse for United fans”, added the former England worldwide striker on Sportlobster.com.

The loss to the Cherries has undermined their hopes of a title challenge and Carrick admits that things have not been going to plan, report the Manchester Evening News. Michael Carrick and David de Gea remain, and the only other player who started 25+ games was Rafael.

Some of the Premier League’s top clubs have become embroiled in a row about poaching after agreeng an unofficial amnesty behind the scenes, in a move that has led to complaints from Manchester United and means serial offenders can expect to go unpunished. That happened again this year, with the result that they have the toughest set of potential opponents: Real Madrid, Wolfsburg, Atletico Madrid, Zenit St Petersburg and Barcelona.