Michael Carrick was pleased to see Paul Scholes back
pulling the strings in the middle of the park, even if it does mean
more competition for places in midfield.
Scholes made his first start in over three months
since damaging knee ligaments in October - his 550th
appearance in total - and looked as sharp as ever,
orchestrating United’s attacking moves in the 2-0 win over
Portsmouth.
For Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, Anderson and Darren Fletcher, it
could mean less playing time, but none of them look on the
33-year-old’s return to action as anything other than
positive.
“It’s great to have Scholesy back,” Carrick told
MUTV. “We have been getting good results
without him in the team, so to have him back now is a boost to
everyone.
“He’s a top, top player. You saw against Portsmouth what he can do,
and he seemed to fit in like he has never been away. It’s great to
see him back.”
Carrick insists that all five central midfielders at Old Trafford
must not count the word ‘dropped’ as part of their football
vocabulary.
“Every one of the midfielders is playing really well,” he says.
“But we all know that we’re not going to play in every single game.
But it’s not a case of getting dropped, it’s about resting players
and keep everyone in top shape and in good form. That’s certainly
the case at the moment. Hopefully we can all stay sharp for the
run-in, that will only help us.”