FORGET ABOUT NEXT SEASON

PREMIER LEAGUE We’ve got to focus on strong finish says Carrick SUNDAY

MICHAEL CARRICK isn’t interested in putting a psychological marker down for next season when Chelsea visit Old Trafford tomorrow.

Not when a top-four finish and Champions League football is still up for grabs.

The United midfielder believes it is dangerous to prioritise winning the Europa League as it offers a backdoor route into the Champions League next season.

Instead, he wants a top-four place in the Premier League AND Europa League glory.

Tough

“A marker for next season?” he said. “Forget about next season – we have enough to play for this season. We are not looking any further ahead than that.

“The Premier League top four is still an opportunity. People are saying that the Europa League is the best chance for us but you cannot look at it like that.

“A lot can happen. There is no way we can give up on the top four. Yes, we have a tough run-in but it is still close.”

Carrick didn’t finish outside the top two in the Premier League in his first seven seasons at Old Trafford following his £18m move from Tottenham in 2006.

In those days, he would never have imagined United would have finish seventh, fourth and fifth as they have done in the last three campaigns, while spending nearly all of this one outside the top four desperately ® trying to force their way in. Carrick, 35, is reluctant to make comparisons with Antonio Conte’s leaders but is clearly frustrated that United – who have actually lost fewer games than the leaders – have seen their title hopes evaporate on the back of nine home draws.

They are unbeaten in 21 league games but 10 of them have been drawn.

“I don’t want to compare us to Chelsea or anyone else,” he said. “I am not going down that road. We concentrate on ourselves.

“If we were struggling football-wise and were miles away, then there would be a bigger problem to solve.

“But we have been playing so well for so long. We have just got to be ruthless and finish teams off. We have to find a way.

“We have the quality there. It is disappointing if you are not creating but we are looking dangerous. We need that little bit of edge to take us to the next level to be successful.

“It is close, we are getting better, but we still have to find that way and I am sure it will come.

“The draws are killing us. In some ways, you are better off losing one and winning one than doing what we have been doing by drawing so many.”

It was a similar story in Brussels on Thursday night where United looked set for a 1-0 win in their Europa League quarter-final first leg with Anderlecht, only to concede an 86th-minute equaliser. “We were bitterly disappointed, coming off the pitch,” said Carrick.

“When you are that close to a win and done so many good things, it is frustrating. We let the game drift too long in the second half.

“We were too comfortable in many ways. And a 1-0 lead is dangerous. It has been in the past on many occasions and it proved to be again.

“There are an awful lot of good things we can take from it and an awful lot of good signs. So in that respect we are not in a bad place but, as a team, we need to find a way to win games, especially when you are playing as well as we have done.”

Charge

“We’re not getting carried away but if we play to our best, there could be a chance of beating Chelsea.

Carrick’s own future is still up in the air, with his contract expiring this summer and a new one yet to be agreed.

But he is more certain that United are heading in the right way under Jose Mourinho, despite the frustrations of his first season in charge.

“As a team and a squad we are growing,” he said. “We will develop that killer instinct. We believe we will get better. We will improve.

“There are a lot of good signs. Going on an unbeaten run like we have done shows we have a bit of steel and a bit of character about us.”