• Premier League

United can catch City - Carrick

Michael Carrick is happy for Manchester United to lead the chasing pack © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Spurs squad is better than Man United's - Woodgate
  

Michael Carrick is confident Manchester United will be in the title shake-up at the end of the season as they sit just two points behind leaders Manchester City.

United, currently in second, are no strangers to coming from behind to be crowned champions, most famously catching Newcastle United after being 12 points in arrears in the 1995-96 campaign. And United have five more points than they did at this stage last season.

City's loss at Chelsea on Monday night has seen the top four squeeze up to be just seven points apart, with Arsenal a further two points back in fifth.

Carrick said: "City have set the standard and not dropped many points but there's a cluster of clubs behind them which we're heading up, so we're quite happy with the way things have gone. Of course we'd prefer to be on top but we're actually in a better position than last season and, hopefully, we'll be even closer to them come the end of the year.

"We've seen a lot of the big teams move up the table - Tottenham have been on a great run, Arsenal have come on strong and Liverpool are picking up points too. It may stay like that for a bit - even going into February or March you can have three or four involved and then it ends up being only two.

"The important thing for us at the moment is making sure we stick close to those teams and, hopefully, get that top spot as soon as we can."

Carrick is also looking forward to the FA Cup showdown with their local rivals at Eastlands. He said: "It was typical of the Cup for that tie to come out, wasn't it? I'm one of a few players in the dressing room who haven't won the FA Cup and it's a trophy we all really want.

"We're fully aware of how big the occasion will be and, while there's an element of wanting to put things right after the last two games against them, we'll just be focused on getting through to the next round. Hopefully, we can do that."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.