Carrick on Shaw, 'magical' Champions League and Sabah

Manchester United boss Michael Carrick has been speaking to the media before Thursday’s Champions League fixture against Sabah at Old Trafford (kick-off 20:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

Defender Luke Shaw has been given an extra recovery day and they will know by Thursday whether he will be in the squad. Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt has trained well and is “on good track” to make a return soon but United have to “get the balance right” for the next steps.
Slovenia forward Benjamin Sesko is “in a good place” and will be part every game. Carrick added: “It’s just a case of when he takes that next step”.
Carrick said the Champions League is a “magical competition” and where the club wants to be, adding: “When you’re out of it, you realise how special it is and when you’re in it, you want to make the most of it. It’s the best competition to challenge yourself and to push against the best.”
On progressing in the Champions League, he said: “We’re capable of achieving it. It’s up to us to take the step of doing that. We’ve got to be humble enough and realistic enough to know where we’re coming from and where we want to get to. We’re capable of some really, really good things and especially on our day, we feel that we can go up against anybody and come out on top. It’s up to us to bring that over a consistent period and consistency through games. In the end, that gets you the results and hopefully puts us in the stages that you’re talking about.”
Carrick said the Champions League means “an awful lot” and winning it as a player was “the ultimate” and “the best feeling I’ve had”. He added that it would be nice to feel that again one day.
On the approach to selecting players: “It’s always a balanced view. That’s why we’re pushing to have as strong a squad as possible to be able to adapt to certain games and certain strengths and different ways of playing and different circumstances. It’s about managing the group and having the trust in everyone who’s able to play and will play.”
On Sabah: “I think they’re a very well-coached team. You can see that quite clearly, their ideas, the principles that they have that are repeatable. I think they’ve obviously won a lot of football matches over the last 12 months or so. They’re playing with a lot of confidence and you can see the way they play and take the ball and play through the pitch. They have some really good connections and press well as a team. So, we are fully aware of what we’re up against and the challenge that we face.”