Manchester United coach Michael Carrick appeared in a press conference to talk about Sunday's match against Fulham, in the 24th round of the Premier League, at Old Trafford.

The coach said: "Matthijs de Ligt is not training with us yet, we are only working on the necessary procedures to bring him back as soon as possible. Joshua Zirkzee returned to training this week, and that is good news. This is the first time he has returned after a short absence, and it's great to have him with us again."

He added: "Patrick Dorgu will be out for a while, and we are still working on determining the duration of his absence. We weren't sure at first whether it was just muscle cramps or something more serious, but at the moment it seems a bit more serious. How many weeks? We will see."

On the team's declining results at Old Trafford: "I believe consistency is the key to success in the end, and in my opinion, it is one of the hardest things to achieve, to be consistently good. It takes a lot of effort to psychologically deal with the fluctuations of this game, between the ups and downs. This is what we are working on. We had two great weeks, achieved two good results, and have big matches ahead of us, and the most important thing is to keep the mental focus in the right place."

On the club's stance on the winter transfer market: "We are working on it. Never say impossible, as a lot can happen and unexpected developments may arise. We are calm, and we have shown what we are capable of doing. We will see what the next few days bring."

He concluded about Bruno Fernandes' future: "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We are focused on this match. This topic is a bit on the agenda, but my primary priority is to get through Sunday's match, and Bruno is fully committed, there are absolutely no problems. There are matters that will be discussed later as the end of the season approaches, but everything is positive at the moment, and there is no reason for it to be otherwise."