“Working towards it”: Carrick confident Kobbie Mainoo will be fit for tomorrow’s crunch match against Chelsea

Michael Carrick has been speaking to the media ahead of tomorrow’s Premier League clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. United are battling against the Blues, Liverpool and Aston Villa for one of three extra places in next season’s Champions League, with Man City and Arsenal all but certain to grab the first two. Maguire’s ban and Martinez’ appeal The first question was about the FA’s decision to ban Harry Maguire for tomorrow’s match after he already missed the last game through suspension. “Well, to be honest, there’s not much we can react to,” Carrick said. “Massively disappointed, of course. I think I’ve had a few reasons to be disappointed in a big way over them type of situations over the last couple of weeks or three weeks. But we’ve obviously now got to move on, you know. The decisions have been made, something that we’re really disappointed with in many ways. But that’s it now. We’ve got to move on and we will do.” He was asked “with Lisandro, there was talk of an appeal over that decision. Did that go in and have you heard anything back?” “Yeah, I think it’s— we’re obviously disappointed, we didn’t agree with it,” Carrick said. “I think it was pretty obvious how I felt after the game and I still feel that way. So yeah, listen, I don’t want to go into it now. I think it is what it is, you know. We’ve been hit with some decisions and at the end of the day, you know, we’ve just got to accept it and move on whether we like them or not. He’s not going to be available, there’s no chance he can play tomorrow.” Team News Will Kobbie Mainoo and Patrick Dorgu be available tomorrow? “Patrick’s not, no,” Carrick confirmed. “Patrick’s, he’s going well, he’s rehabbing well, he’s kind of on track, but he’s not with us in terms of training yet, but he’s back on the pitch as I’ve already said, so that’s positive and he’s doing really well.” “Kobbie, a little bit, yeah, we’re working towards it. He’s done a little bit, so there’s a decision to be made there.” Ayden Heaven’s future The next reporter asked: “I just wanted to ask you about Ayden Heaven as well, Michael, he’s probably the most logical person to come into the team, whether you do or not. Just wonder, he had a run of games before you returned to the club starting, but we’ve not seen all that much of him since. Just wonder what you think he maybe needs to do to really contest for those starting positions and where you want to see him develop in the future?” The boss replied: “I think Ayden’s in a good place. Well, I know he’s in a good place. He’s obviously still young and he’s starting, he’s progressing through the early stage of his career really. So I think it’s pretty natural for him to play some games and then maybe not some others.” “He’s training really well, he’s learning, he’s listening, he wants to improve. So I think it’s pretty natural of a centre-half of his age to, he’s probably well ahead of schedule in terms of the games that he’s played. So yeah, he’s trained well, I’ve got no worries. He went away and played with England a couple of weeks ago and done well. So yeah, he’s looking forward to the game for sure.” Tomorrow’s Game Asked to comment on the big game, Carrick said: “Yeah, it’s an important game. You know, we’re in a good position in the league and we want to keep building on that. It’s a tough place to go, always has been. We’ve always had tough games down there. Most of the time they’ve been good games in terms of the what it brings, the feeling of a real proper game. So we’ll be ready for that, you know, we’re prepared well. And as I said, we take the confidence from what we’ve built, you know. Yeah, we didn’t get the result we wanted against Leeds on Monday, but certainly the way they finished the game and the character we showed, and we’ve got to take that into this game with an extra player and make the most of it.” The reporter asked “I know you’ve got a decision to make at centre-back and there’s different options for you, but just longer term, Leny Yoro and Ayden Heaven, could that be the future of Manchester United’s backline?” Carrick replied: “Yeah, well, in terms of predicting the future, I think you could be careful what you try and predict, but certainly, um, we’re delighted to have both of them, um, and the ages that they’re at, to have played in the Premier League for such a big club is not always the case. I think it’s a position that to be in the team at a young age at a big club, it’s not always easy, it’s not always straightforward.” “So for the two boys to have played that, they have different amounts at different times, but I think the experience and the level and the stage that they’re at now, they’re at a really good stage. And the future is the future, they need to keep progressing and we’ll give them the opportunity to to do that, whether that’s through training off the pitch and the coaching side and the help and the advice, and certainly the game time as well. So I think they’re both in a really good place at the moment. It’s probably as well as we could— you could hope for, for centre-backs at the age that they’re at.” Substitutions The following question was: “I realise analysis of situations is shaped by results, but there’s been a lot of talk about substitutions in the wake of Monday. What is the thought process? Because a lot of people thought maybe there should have been a change at halftime or earlier or more, What is the thought process?” The Wallsend man answered: “There’s always people that think some other things. There’s always other opinions. There’s a lot comes into substitutions. I think we’ve had good impact off the bench really when you look back over the time we’ve been here and in different ways players coming on scoring goals so yeah, don’t look into it too much.” “I think we obviously, we analyse what we take from each game but in terms of number of subs and when they’re made and comparing it to other teams it’s kind of irrelevant really, it’s results and generally we’ve good results.” Mason Mount Finally Carrick was asked about Mason Mount, and in particular, “it seemed when Ruben [Amorim] was here that there was a kind of a slot for him. It doesn’t seem quite as obvious in the formation you play. Where do you think he can be most effective?” Carrick replied: “There’s definitely a place for him, without doubt. He’s obviously working to, to getting fit and finding that. And the other night I thought we actually finished the game to a point where we were having some chances as well. So it was, did we change it, did we not? There’s obviously a decision to be made there, but Mason’s got a good future here, so I really don’t worry about it.” The embargoed section of the presser will be released tonight at 10.30pm, check back here at The Peoples Person for every word of that section. Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Red Billy Red Billy is the managing editor of The Peoples Person, author of three books and two magazines and totally obsessed with football’s transfer market. Billy first saw United live in 1971, watching George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law, before becoming a League Match ticket book holder from 1975/76 and a writer since 1995. Billy still insists Matteo Darmian and Alex Telles could have made it at United given half a chance.