Carrick drives United forward

Manchester United FC are closing in on the Premier League title and have an exciting UEFA Champions League semi-final with FC Barcelona to look forward to, but midfielder Michael Carrick is urging his team-mates not to look too far ahead as their season nears a potentially glorious conclusion.

Successful season
The 26-year-old was expected to find opportunities harder to come by following the signings of Anderson and, in particular, his England international colleague Owen Hargreaves last summer, yet instead Carrick has continued to be a regular presence in the starting lineup. Despite Sir Alex Ferguson's favoured rotation policy, Carrick seized the opening presented by Hargreaves' long-standing tendonitis problem and his impressive form has restricted the former FC Bayern München man to just 215 minutes in the UEFA Champions League, spread over five games. In contrast, Carrick has missed only one of United's ten European matches and has played 28 Premier League matches, so it is perhaps little surprise he is quietly pleased with his season so far.

Two-pronged attack
"I'm enjoying my football and I'm very satisfied with the way things are going," said Carrick, who agreed to extend his contract at Old Trafford on Friday. "You always want to keep improving and getting better and I feel I've been doing that since I've been at the club so hopefully that will continue." With United three points clear in the Premier League, Carrick is relishing the challenge of competing on two fronts. "Big games are what it's all about at this stage of the season and that's what you want to be involved in. You want to challenge. It's two big competitions we're going for and there's some massive games ahead so we look forward to them. At this stage you just want to be in with a fighting chance; we've given ourselves a great chance of winning the league and done what we wanted to do in the Champions League. Things are going well at the moment and we just hope it continues."

'Fantastic tie'
The next obstacle for a United side seeking the club's first European triumph since 1999 is a Barcelona side who completed their own double of UEFA Champions League and Primera División in 2005/06. Carrick is under no illusions of the task ahead. "Barcelona is a fantastic tie, they should be two great games and hopefully we'll come out on top," he said. "We believe we can win, it's not going to be easy and we'll have to be at our best in both games but we've got the players and the confidence to do that and I'm sure we'll be good enough."

Home comfort
United's 1-0 defeat of AS Roma in the quarter-final second leg – which completed a 3-0 aggregate victory – was their eleventh successive UEFA Champions League win at Old Trafford, setting a new competition record, and Carrick recognises the importance of keeping that run going. "It's very pleasing – you always want your home form to be good, especially at this stage of the competition. It gives you a good base to go away from home, knowing you've got that to fall back on. Against Roma it was a good performance all round as a team, we defended well and attacked well. Obviously Roma had their opportunities, but when you look at the two games I think we can be pleased with how they’ve both gone."

Milan memories
Despite their scintillating recent form – United have won seven of their last nine matches in all competitions, and 17 of their last 23 games – Carrick is understandably wary ahead of the trip to Camp Nou for the semi-final first leg. After all, 12 months ago they were in an even better position as they challenged for the UEFA Champions League, FA Cup and Premier League only to lose out to AC Milan in the last four of the first competition and Chelsea FC in the final of the second. "I would think the experience of last year will help this time," Carrick said.

Super game
"[Against Milan] we had a good result here but fell away a bit away from home. It's the opposite this year as we're away first and at Old Trafford in the second leg so that'll be different but it depends on the way the tie goes, particularly over there. If we can score it will set us up nicely for coming back to Manchester. Barcelona is a super game, they're the matches you want to play in; two great teams going at it and I'm sure they'll be two great spectacles. Hopefully we can come out on top."