Carrick eyeing midfield return

Michael Carrick's days as an emergency central defender for Manchester United may be coming to an end.

With Chris Salling and Phil Jones returning to fitness and Nemanja Vidic edging closer to a return, Carrick can expect to revert to his favoured midfield role sooner rather than later.

Ahead of tomorrow’s visit of QPR — now without manager Mark Hughes after he was sacked on the eve of the game — Carrick said: "If there are injuries or whatever, part of playing for this club is to do what the manager wants.

"I don't have a problem with it. Ideally, I would like to play midfield because that is my position, but if I've got to play at the back, then so be it."