“We need to keep building”, says Carrick ahead of Manchester United’s clash against Chelsea | OneFootball

The Red Devils suffered their first home defeat under Carrick on Monday, falling to Leeds United 2–1 after Lisandro Martínez was sent off.

Despite the setback, United remain third in the table, level on 55 points with fourth-placed Aston Villa.

With five games remaining, the race for a Champions League spot is still in their own hands should they secure victory over Chelsea.

Carrick said: “It’s an important game. We are in a good position but we need to keep building on that.

“It is a tough place to go and we always have tough games down there, but we will be ready for that and we take confidence from what we built.

“We didn’t get the result we wanted against Leeds, but the way we finished the game and the character we showed – we need to take that into this game.”

Carrick will be without Lisandro Martinez after he was sent off for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s hair on Monday night.

“We are disappointed. We didn’t agree with it. It was pretty obvious how I felt about it after the game and I still feel that way.

“It is what it is; we’ve been hit with some decisions but we have to accept it and move on.”

Martinez joins Harry Maguire on the sideline, who was shown red for improper conduct against Bournemouth last month, which also left Carrick frustrated.

“I am massively disappointed, of course. We’ve had a few reasons to be disappointed over those sorts of situations over the last few weeks, but we have got to move on.

“The decisions have been made, and it is something we’re disappointed with in many ways, but we have got to move on now and that’s what we will do.”

With Maguire and Martinez suspended, Ayden Heaven and Leny Yoro are likely to start in central defence.

“Ayden is in a good place. He’s still young and progressing through the early stages of his career, so I think it’s natural for him to play some games and not others.

“He’s training well, improving and listening. It’s natural for a centre-back of his age. He is ahead of schedule in terms of the games he has played.

“He trained with England a few weeks ago and did well. He’s looking forward to the game.”

Chelsea vs Manchester United kicks off at 8pm BST live on TNT Sports 1.