Carrick: Looking to progress
Michael Carrick has disagreed with John Terry's claim that Manchester United will find it difficult to improve this season.
Chelsea captain Terry stated his opinion earlier this week that many of United's players had been playing at their peak for the last two seasons.
Terry added that he expected his side to be stronger than last season, when the Blues finished two points behind United in second.
Carrick is confident that he personally will continue to progress, while he insists that his team-mates will also be ready for the challenge of defending their title.
"I want to keep improving, be successful and win more things," the midfielder told the Manchester Evening News.
"Hopefully, that will drive us on to more success this season. It is harder in the sense that all the other teams have improved and are getting better.
"We've been champions two years on the spin and are even more of a scalp, so teams are really up for it. We managed to overcome that challenge last season and that success drives you on.
"I think we will improve this season, as well as other teams and it's who can do it over the course of a season.
"We've managed to do it the past couple of years and it's the test to do it again."
United triumphed in the Champions League as well as the Premier League last season and will be hoping to become the first club to win the competition in consecutive years.
However, Carrick accepts that it will be extremely difficult to repeat the European success this term.
"The big clubs are always going to be in there towards the end of the season and it is really tough," he said.
"Those type of things are won and lost on really small things, as we saw in the final last year so you need that bit of luck.
"We've shown we can do it once, so we will try to do it again. If we were to do it again this season, two years in a row, it would be absolutely incredible. But we've got to perform and see how far it takes us."

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| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Wednesday 10th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 19:45 | Aston Villa vs Man Utd |
| Tuesday 16th February | |
| UEFA Champions League | |
| 19:45 | AC Milan vs Man Utd |
| Saturday 20th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Everton vs Man Utd |
| Tuesday 23rd February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 20:00 | Man Utd vs West Ham |
| Sunday 28th February | |
| Carling Cup | |
| 15:00 | Aston Villa vs Man Utd |
| Saturday 6th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Wolverhampton vs Man Utd |
| Wednesday 10th March | |
| UEFA Champions League | |
| 19:45 | Man Utd vs AC Milan |
| Sunday 14th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 13:30 | Man Utd vs Fulham |
| Sunday 21st March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 13:30 | Man Utd vs Liverpool |
| Saturday 27th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Bolton vs Man Utd |
| Saturday 3rd April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Man Utd vs Chelsea |
| Saturday 10th April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Blackburn vs Man Utd |
| Saturday 17th April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Man City vs Man Utd |
| Saturday 24th April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Man Utd vs Tottenham |
| Saturday 1st May | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Sunderland vs Man Utd |
| Sunday 9th May | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Man Utd vs Stoke |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Saturday 6th February | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man Utd 5 - 0 Portsmouth | |
| Sunday 31st January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Arsenal 1 - 3 Man Utd | |
| Wednesday 27th January | |
| Carling Cup | |
| Man Utd 3 - 1 Man City | |
| Saturday 23rd January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man Utd 4 - 0 Hull | |
| Tuesday 19th January | |
| Carling Cup | |
| Man City 2 - 1 Man Utd | |
| Saturday 16th January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man Utd 3 - 0 Burnley | |
| Saturday 9th January | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Birmingham 1 - 1 Man Utd | |
| Sunday 3rd January | |
| The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON | |
| Man Utd 0 - 1 Leeds | |
| Wednesday 30th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man Utd 5 - 0 Wigan | |
| Sunday 27th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Hull 1 - 3 Man Utd | |
| Saturday 19th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Fulham 3 - 0 Man Utd | |
| Tuesday 15th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man Utd 3 - 0 Wolverhampton | |
| Saturday 12th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man Utd 0 - 1 Aston Villa | |
| Tuesday 8th December | |
| UEFA Champions League | |
| Wolfsburg 1 - 3 Man Utd | |
| Saturday 5th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| West Ham 0 - 4 Man Utd | |
| Tuesday 1st December | |
| Carling Cup | |
| Man Utd 2 - 0 Tottenham | |
| Saturday 28th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Portsmouth 1 - 4 Man Utd | |
| Wednesday 25th November | |
| UEFA Champions League | |
| Man Utd 0 - 1 Besiktas | |
| Saturday 21st November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man Utd 3 - 0 Everton | |
| Sunday 8th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Chelsea 1 - 0 Man Utd | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 25 | 58 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 25 | 56 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 25 | 49 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 25 | 44 |
| 5 | Manchester City | 24 | 44 |
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