Michael Carrick believes Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Leeds felt like a “fresh start” as he praised the attitude and response of his players.
Carrick was particularly pleased with the impact of United’s midfield duo of Carlos Baleba and Andrey Santos, who he feels are adapting well to the demands of playing for the club.
“They’re both young players adapting to life at this football club and I thought both of them were terrific today and I thought they both did really well in midweek,” Carrick said.
“That’s a massive positive for us.”
The United boss felt there was a different mentality around the group heading into the game and was encouraged by the way his players responded.
“It felt like a bit of a fresh start, if I’m honest, today, with where we’re at, accepting it and doing something about it,” he said.
“It definitely shows that the boys are desperate to do well for each other as much as anything else and how much they appreciate playing for this football club.
“There was a real purpose to the group over the last couple of days and they took it onto the pitch.
“That’s a tough game today and it can find you out pretty quickly but the boys stood up to it really well.”
Carrick admitted United are still some way from where they want to be, but remains convinced they can turn their form around.
“We’re not accepting that anything is great by any stretch so I’m realistic with that,” he said.
“But sometimes you do struggle and you have to find a way through it. We haven’t really had to go through that yet and we’ve got to find a way through it.
“There has been a cycle at times here over a period of time where it can go in different directions and we’ve got to be stable enough to keep doing the right things and we’re more than capable of winning football matches.”
He added: “I understand the situation doesn’t look too good if you look at it a certain way but I’ve got no doubts that we can go on a good run.
“If we keep doing the right things I still think we can have a really good season.”