Man Utd manager Carrick refuses to rule out dropping Fernandes in emotional address

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick has refused to rule out dropping captain Bruno Fernandes, in an emotional address at his pre-match press conference.

Instead of taking his seat and answering questions as normal at Friday's scheduled briefing, the under-pressure United boss spoke for several minutes about what the club means to him - a move the BBC noted was reminiscent of former manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

It comes after a run of seven games without a win, culminating in Wednesday's 4-1 Champions League defeat. "Recently we haven't had a good time, I think that's pretty obvious," Carrick said. "Wednesday was a bad night, and it hurt me to see us play like that. It was unacceptable."

He added: "My responsibility is to get a team on the pitch that represents this football club."

Asked whether he had considered dropping Fernandes, Carrick said: "It's about the football club. I'll always do what is best for the football club."

Club sources had said on Thursday that Fernandes would not be stripped of the captaincy or fined following his midweek interview with Sky Italia, in which the Portugal international said there was "too much focus on what's been done in the past" at the club.

Carrick refused to say whether he had spoken to Fernandes about his conduct, but insisted the dressing room was not divided. "No, it's not," he said. "We just need to get back to doing what we do best."

He added that the club were "doing everything" to support Fernandes and his family after an awful incident affecting them, though they were thankfully not directly affected.