Carrick fires warning to rivals as tough Man United target trophy crusade

01 October 2009 11:50
Manchester United possess the mental toughness to embark on yet another trophy crusade this season. That is the view of Michael Carrick, who rammed home the winning goal in Wednesday's Champions League victory over Wolfsburg. The 2-1 win over the Germans leaves United top of Group B, while the also lead the way in the Barclays Premier League. There were huge doubts before the season started over the club's attempts to continue as a driving force in European football after the loss of star forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez. But United have proven they are ready to mount another charge for glory - and Carrick puts that down to the desire of the United team, who bounced back from a goal down to beat Wolfsburg at Old Trafford. 'When we went a goal down we stepped up and still believed we could win the game,' said Carrick. 'There’s a lot of belief, confidence and trust in each other in our squad. And I think that’s shown this season through the amount of goals we’ve scored in the latter stages of matches. 'Fitness helps too, but the character and the mental strength we have certainly helps. It’s never ideal going a goal down but when it does happen we always believe we can bounce back.' Carrick was the unlikely matchwinner against Wolfsburg with his late strike and he admitted he was relieved to seal the triumph. 'It’s always important to get off to a good start in your group,' he added. 'The win against Besiktas in Turkey two weeks ago was a big result – to win in that environment, away from home, was tough but we came through that test and tonight we’ve built on that momentum. 'Wolfsburg are a good side and their strikers caused us problems. But we knew what to expect and fair play to them – they came and played football and gave us a good game. 'I think we defended well and played some good football – sometimes luck just didn’t fall for us at tiems. But we’ve won the game and we’re happy with that. 'It was nice to score, too. I don’t get many goals so I guess I need to appreciate the ones I do get.'

Source: Daily_Mail