Carrick shrugs off Scholes dig as Man Utd gear up for Villa test

Michael Carrick dismissed remarks from his ex Manchester United colleague Paul Scholes on Friday while getting his team ready for a vital Premier League clash with Aston Villa.

The Red Devils sitting in third place are back in action on Sunday following their 2-1 loss to Newcastle earlier this month.

Unai Emerys Villa side trails United just on goal difference in the close fight for Champions League spots next season.

The first five positions in the Premier League should clinch entry to Europes premier club tournament.

The setback against Newcastle marked Carricks initial defeat since he stepped in to lead the team through the remainder of the season back in January and Scholes posted a mocking comment on Instagram targeting the player he once shared the midfield with at Old Trafford.

Michael has definitely got something special about him cos Utd have been crap last four games that was the wording in Scholes post and he subsequently explained he intended no harm and had reached out to his old teammate.

However Carrick informed journalists during his Friday pre match briefing that he was not fixating on the matter.

Theres nothing to say about it really he commented. I think thats just where we are in terms of social media and things and captions and quotes.

It can be taken in different ways so just be calm about it and understand actually the real meaning of things.

Listen theres different opinions out there and its fine. People can have different opinions.

Its just things get taken way out of one extreme to the other and it is what it is but Im not worried about it. I dont make a big deal of it either.

United ended up in a disappointing 15th spot in the Premier League the previous season under Ruben Amorim.

Carricks squad had been performing strongly right up to their late loss at St James Park to Newcastle yet the ex United midfielder noted that such a stumble was bound to happen eventually.

Its a tough league he remarked. Most teams if not every team has suffered that in recent times.

Its putting things in perspective really and putting it in shape where we know where we can improve what we can do better.

Carrick expressed excitement over facing Villa at Old Trafford.

Weve put ourselves in a position now where theres an awful lot to play for he stated. So were really embracing the situation at the moment and looking forward to the next game.

Carrick mentioned that midfielder Mason Mount has made a significant progress and might come back from his two month layoff this weekend.