Manchester United play Newcastle in the Premier League on Wednesday and Michael Carrick explained his team selection.

Michael Carrick admitted he has been delighted with Benjamin Sesko’s performances at Manchester United as he previewed the game against Newcastle. Carrick has made just one change from the 2-1 victory against Crystal Palace last weekend, bringing Noussair Mazraoui into the starting XI at the expense of Diogo Dalot.

Sesko scored the match-winner against Palace, his seventh goal in eight matches. The Slovenia international has enjoyed a purple patch in front of goal since Ruben Amorim’s departure.

Newcastle submitted a bid to sign Sesko from RB Leipzig last summer, but the 22-year-old favoured a move to Old Trafford.

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Speaking about Sesko before the game, Carrick told TNT Sports: “I think it’s pretty clear [his confidence], we’ve all seen it. He’s gradually building since he came to the club and over the season.

“That’s part of learning and developing and getting used to being around different environments. Confidence as a striker, scoring goals helps massively but his performances away from that and how he’s improving all the time is exactly what we’d hoped and what he hoped when he came to the club.”

United will play 40 games across all competitions this season, their fewest for 100 years, but Carrick insisted it’s not a negative. “We all play the same amount of league games,” he said.

“So we’re just focusing on what we can do in the next game, whenever that is, whether it’s 2 or 3 days or 9 or 10 days, so we’re just looking after ourselves and try and take care of that, so that’s what we’ve done.”

United last won at St James’ Park in October 2020 when fans were absent due to the Covid-19 pandemic. You have to go back to January 2019 for the Reds’ last win with fans in attendance.

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