Tuesday 3 January 2017 15:55, UK
Michael Carrick says confidence is high at Manchester United after they secured their sixth consecutive Premier League win at West Ham.
The Hammers had started the game brightly before referee Mike Dean's controversial decision to show midfielder Sofiane Feghouli a red card after 15 minutes, which West Ham say they intend to appeal.
Second-half goals from Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic saw Jose Mourinho's side win 2-0 to stretch their unbeaten run to 13 games in all competitions, and Carrick was pleased with how the players dealt with conditions to claim victory.
"In the first half we weren't where we wanted to be in terms of keeping possession and creating chances," Carrick told MUTV.
"We just looked less sharp after only playing on Saturday, but credit should also go to them as they only played on Saturday as well and had to play with 10 men.
"But we are delighted that we saw the game out. We have kept our run going and confidence is high, which makes such a massive difference in games like this because we feel as if we can see that finishing line and it ultimately drove us over the line to give us the three points."
The introductions of substitutes Mata and Marcus Rashford swung the game in Manchester United's favour as the latter played a key role in setting up the Spaniard's opener.
The 19-year-old has been a bit-part player under Mourinho this term following a debut season in which he earned his first England call-up, but Carrick was full of admiration for the teenager.
"Pace makes a big difference," Carrick said. "There was space out there and he came on to exploit it. You could sense he was going to create something as he nearly got inside a couple of times before he set up the goal.
"He did really well to lay off Juan, he took his chance and so did Ibra so we can go home happy."
