The fitness levels of the Man Utd squad have become a talking point this season and Matheus Cunha mentioned it after he had scored an equaliser at Fulham.
Michael Carrick
Michael Carrick is happy with United's fitness levels
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Michael Carrick played down concerns over the fitness levels of his squad and felt they proved their critics wrong with the way they finished the 1-1 draw at Fulham.
Stats at the end of last week showed United were towards the bottom of the Premier League for sprints, high-speed runs and distance covered so far this season and Matheus Cunha questioned their energy levels after the game at Craven Cottage.
Carrick had a spiky exchange in an interview with a TV reporter when it was put to him his side were passive, but they were outrun at times by Fulham in the first half and started the second half with a lull.
That led to Lisandro Martinez scoring a bizarre own goal just after the hour mark and Cunha said on TV that the home side had started the second half with more energy.
"In the beginning of the second half they put in more energy than us and we cannot accept this," he said.
But Carrick disagreed with the assessment, pointing to United's strong finish in west London as evidence they can match the opposition and he has no concerns over his squad's fitness.
"No, I don't particularly really [think it's an issue]," he said. "The way we finished the game, actually, it didn't look like that for me.
"I was quite happy with the way we finished the game, I thought we finished the game really strong actually, and kept pushing. So I don't think that's an issue, no."
United did muster a strong response after falling behind to the Premier League's bottom side and Carrick felt the character on show will stand them in good stead as the season progresses.
His side came into the game under mounting pressure and were on for a fourth defeat in seven games in all competitions until Cunha's deflected strike earned them a point.
"That's a big thing and without getting carried away with it, because we've taken a point and we wanted to win, but it's part of learning as a group," said Carrick.
"As I said, it's the first time when we've had a spell of a couple of weeks, it's a pretty short spell, but we've had a little spell where results haven't quite gone to plan. And you learn about each other.
"They learn about me, because we haven't had that, I learn about them individually and as a team. How we respond, what it looks like moving forward, what our reaction is, all that. That's part of growing as a group.
"And you have to go through certain things to get to the end of it. Definitely, today it could have gone in a different direction, 100% it could have. I was really pleased with the response and I think that'll help us a lot moving forward.
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"It's in there now, the lads have felt it, I've seen it. So it's encouraging moving forward."