Carrick says Man Utd's start to season 'not that bad' as they turn focus to Champions League

Michael Carrick says Manchester United's start to the season was “not that bad” as they prepare to return to the Champions League this week.

The players' heads were down after Everton’s added-time equaliser left them with just four points from three matches in the Premier League.

And next up is the clash with Sabah on Thursday where United will be looking to get off to a good start in Europe.

Despite twice taking the lead through Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, United were pegged back by maiden Everton goals for Tyrique George and deadline-day signing Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who scored in the sixth minute of added time to seal a 2-2 draw.

While Carrick said he was “bitterly disappointed” with the result, he did not think their points return, which already puts them five points behind leaders Manchester City, was the worst start.

“We haven’t started the season that bad. It’s not that bad, we’ve got that close to coming away with three points today; that’s football,” he said.

“There are moments we can deal with a bit better, but we’ll be fine. We’re bitterly disappointed to be up in the position we were in the game twice, so close to the end.

“All the work that went into putting us in that position at different stages to then come away like that – it’s not a great feeling. It feels like a defeat.

“It’s a bit of a cliche to say at this stage but we have taken the point and we can’t ignore that but it feels like we should have had a lot more.

“The mentality is there. I think there’s obviously things we need to get better at as a team.

“There’s been two strikes from distance really, two really good strikes from their point of view, so sometimes they fly in the top corner and more often than not they probably don’t.

“Obviously we can’t ignore it, we need to concede less goals to give us a better chance of winning games, but we’ll certainly look at that and keep improving.”