Michael Carrick watched Man Utd's U18s book their spot in the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup at Oxford on Wednesday night.
Darren Fletcher spoke after the U18s beat Oxford
Darren Fletcher spoke after the U18s beat Oxford
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Manchester United Under-18 boss Darren Fletcher admitted he didn't tell his team that Michael Carrick was in attendance to watch them book their spot in the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup at Oxford on Wednesday night. United were looking to progress in the competition they last won in 2022 at a rain-soaked Kassam Stadium.
The youngsters did so with minimal fuss, with Albert Mills opening the scoring after he headed home a Jim Thwaites corner. JJ Gabriel made it two on the stroke of half-time before Chido Obi ended the game as a contest with a third in the second half. Oxford tried to fight their way back into the contest and made it 3-1 with half an hour to play but Noah Ajayi scored late on to seal an emphatic win.
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Carrick and Travis Binnion were in the stands to watch the youngsters march on in the competition. Fletcher spoke to MUTV after the game and expressed his delight at the performance before being asked whether he had told the players that Carrick was in attendance.
"I'm not sure if they're aware of it, to be honest," he said. "I didn't want to draw their attention to it and add more pressure, so ultimately it's just great that they were there. Whether the players were aware of it, I'm not sure, we just stayed in our own little bubble and I didn't want to allude to the fact that the first-team manager was there and the staff were there.
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"I think the biggest thing is they're there to support and get their eyes on the players and that's amazing. It shows how connected we are, it shows how the club is and those guys get it, so great for us that they're there, supporting us and making the long journey down, so fantastic. But I'm not sure if the players were aware unless they looked up and it gave them extra motivation!"
The youngsters will face either Sunderland or Brighton in the last eight. They will discover their opponents when Sunderland and Brighton face off next Tuesday.