Man United’s Michael Carrick moves to play down talk of the title

Michael Carrick has moved to play down suggestions that Manchester United have already all but won this season’s Premier League title.

The Red Devils were comfortable 2-0 winners at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday to keep their 12-point lead at the top of the Premier League table after Manchester City’s 2-0 victory over Chelsea the following day.

But despite Sir Alex Ferguson’s side looking set to cruise to their 20th top-flight crown, midfielder Carrick has urged his team-mates to maintain their focus as the season reaches its climax.

“We’re trying the best we can [to block out talk of the title being won already],” Carrick told MUTV.

“We have a job to do and the manager has said we need to think game to game and just win the next match, what’s in front of us.

“You can’t look too far ahead because it can come back and bite you.”

Carrick added: “We’ve got the experience around the place [to cope with the pressure]. You saw at QPR, it was all about getting a result and that’s what we focused on. Now we move onto the next game.”

Manchester United host Norwich City at Old Trafford on Saturday in their next Premier League encounter, while Manchester City travel to Aston Villa next Monday.