Carrick says Man Utd 'shouldn't be over-celebrating' Champions League qualification

Michael Carrick has attempted to bring the Manchester United players back down to earth saying they "shouldn't be over-celebrating" qualification for the Champions League.

United beat Brentford on Monday 2-1 to claim three more key points in the chase for the Champions League.

They are just two points now from ensuring a place in Europe's elite competition next season and what better way to secure it than against bitter rivals Liverpool this weekend.

But for Carrick who has enjoyed Premier League and European success at Old Trafford as a player, he has been quick to point out that the club needs to be chasing for a lot more.

While delighted with United's current third place, Carrick pointed out: "The other side of it is that Champions League is one thing but it’s not something that we should be over-celebrating either.

"We want to be finishing higher up the league and challenging and getting more points. Our season doesn’t come to a close when that happens. It’s one thing certainly, we need to try to achieve it, but there’s still more work to be done.”

It is still a remarkable turnaround under Carrick with the team struggling so badly earlier in the season under Ruben Amorim and they were knocked out of domestic cup competitions at the first hurdle.

Carrick has praised the strength of character of the players as not only managed some big wins over teams like Arsenal and Manchester City but they have battled back from some disappointing losses.

The United players' heads could have dropped after losses against Newcastle and Leeds but instead they rallied and bounced back.

“We’ve given ourselves a great chance. We’ve put ourselves in a big position. I think these last two results have been big for that. It’s a tough league, it’s tough to get wins. You can see that throughout the league," said Carrick of Champions League qualification.

"To get the amount of wins we have, especially after the setbacks that we’ve had. The Newcastle defeat, to bounce back against Villa. The Leeds one, to bounce back again. The lads have got to take a bit of credit for that. This week has been very effective in terms of the league."