Michael Carrick fit again to play for Manchester United against Arsenal

Posted Friday, October 02, 2015 by ESPN

Michael Carrick is available again for Manchester United's trip to Arsenal on Sunday as Louis van Gaal can welcome back his vice-captain.

The 34-year-old midfielder missed Wednesday's 2-1 win over Wolfsburg as Van Gaal did not want to run the risk of aggravating a minor problem.

But United came through the Champions League tie unscathed while Carrick returns to contention.

"Carrick can play so I have a choice," Van Gaal told MUTV. "I'm happy to say that there are no injuries from last night."

United have won all seven games Carrick has started this season and he will provide an alternative to Bastian Schweinsteiger in the centre of midfield.

Van Gaal is considering fielding Ashley Young at right-back and praised the winger, who replaced a struggling Antonio Valencia at half-time in the Wolfsburg game, for his efforts for the side.

"It was important he played there in the second half," Van Gaal said in a news conference. "He's always thinking about the team. He accepts his role and that's important. He can play a lot of positions and for a manager that is fantastic."

Michael Carrick fit again to play for Manchester United against Arsenal
Michael Carrick will be fit to play for Manchester United against Arsenal on Sunday.

Van Gaal will give his players Friday off as he tries to ensure they are in peak condition, but will not finalise his team until Saturday.

"The solution is recovery, recovery, recovery," he said. "That is why it's so difficult to prepare for the match against Arsenal. As a manager, you want to prepare on the pitch and you cannot do it because you need freshness of the players, so then there's also another solution -- to change your squad.

"So we have to see how the evaluation is from my fatigue specialist. I cannot tell that because the press conference is one day after the match. Tomorrow, they have a day off because they've already had two weeks with no day off. We have to wait and see for Saturday and then I can make decisions."