Manchester United Must Keep Winning, Warns Carrick

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Michael Carrick - Manchester United (PA)

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Manchester United can now officially call themselves 'World Champions' after defeating LDU Quito in the World Club Cup Final at the weekend. Whether that title really means anything to fans is open to debate, as talk turns back to the more pressing matter of retaining the Premier League title.

Midfielder Michael Carrick thinks that, despite the nine-day trip to the Far East that has left the squad drained and jet-lagged, United are still very much in the hunt to capture a hat-trick of titles.

"Given what we have had to cope with so far this season, we always felt if we were within touching distance at Christmas, it would not be too bad," said Carrick, as the squad returned to Manchester today.

"We have achieved that. There is an awful long way to go in the season and games in hand are not guaranteed points, but we are pretty pleased with where we are. Now it is up to us to keep winning and applying the pressure to those above us."

United's first big test of the festive period comes on Boxing Day when they travel to the Britannia Stadium to face Stoke City. Carrick clearly feels that the Potters will carry more threat, albeit of a different kind, than Quito.

"Stoke is a different situation," he continued. "Quito was a test but Stoke will be tough. They will make it a battle and try to ensure it is not easy for us. They will probably come at us a little bit more than Quito did.

"As always, we are going there to win but Stoke have a decent home record, so it will be hard, especially coming back off this."

United now find themselves with a little ground to make up on fellow title challengers Chelsea and Liverpool, but home matches with Fulham and Wigan Athletic over the Christmas period perhaps offer some hope of making up ground.

Should the Red Devils slip up and lose those games though, thus finding themselves on the wrong end of a big points deficit in the New Year, questions will surely be asked about the wisdom of taking a trip to Japan in mid-season.

Zack Wilson, Goal.com