Manuel Ugarte has struggled for minutes under Michael Carrick but the Man Utd head coach has praised the impact the defensive midfielder is having in training.
Manuel Ugarte
Manuel Ugarte is yet to start a game under Michael Carrick
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Michael Carrick praised Manuel Ugarte's attitude and commitment in training since he took over at Manchester United last month, but admitted the Uruguayan is desperate to play more often.
Ugarte has played 27 minutes in Carrick's six games in charge at Old Trafford and has been an unused substitute in three of those matches, with the form of Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo keeping him out of the side.
The £50.5million signing from Paris Saint-Germain has struggled under Ruben Amorim and Michael Carrick this season, and there was interest in him from European clubs in the January transfer window, but United were reluctant to let him leave.
Although he is still finding himself out of the team at the moment, Carrick is happy with how he is going about things at Carrington and said there would be times when the 24-year-old will be called upon between now and the end of the season.
"I like Manu a lot. He's been terrific around the group and I'm hugely impressed with his attitude and how he goes about it and his training qualities," said Carrick.
"He has a lot of really good attributes. When the team is winning, there's obviously a big upside to that. And there's always, for the one or two boys that maybe haven't played so much, obviously it makes it a little bit tougher to get in the team, but I think that creates that competition as well, in a real healthy way, that everyone's pushing each other.
"Manu's obviously desperate to get on the pitch more and he's doing everything he can in training and he is a big part of the group, so I think it's just a case of the results and the boys playing so well.
"There's going to be times when we might need to change things and freshen things up and then certainly he is a big part of that."
Another player pushing hard for a start is Benjamin Sesko, who has scored three goals in just 93 minutes under Carrick, coming off the bench to find the net against Fulham, West Ham and Everton.
Carrick again insisted the £73.7million striker not yet starting a game under him wasn't the story inside the club it was being built up to be externally, but suggested he could be in line to start against Crystal Palace on Sunday or Newcastle on Wednesday.
"I just think the whole thing is a real positive, to be honest, it's certainly not a decision that is one that I look to in a negative way or anything like that," he said.
"As I said, we're playing well as a team, we've been winning games, and I'm still not getting carried away and thinking that just carries on, but certainly within the group and the forward players have scored a good number of goals so far.
"Ben's been so good in so many ways for us. It's really not a drama, believe it or not, for how people see it, it's not a drama and I think it just shows the qualities Ben's got for what he's produced over the last few weeks and if and when he starts the next game or the one after, I think, it is what it is, you know, but he's doing so many good things as well as the team that it's a good position for us to be in."
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