Carrick: We can't lose sight of our position

The hosts were reduced to 10 men when Jacob Ramsey received a second yellow card, yet scored soon afterwards, through an Anthony Gordon penalty.

United responded well, with Casemiro nodding in a Bruno Fernandes free-kick to level before the break, but the expected second-half pressure simply did not come from the Reds.

After a brighter spell, which forced two great saves out of Aaron Ramsdale, Newcastle stole the points in the 90th minute, when substitute Will Osula curled in a wonder goal.

See what Carrick had to say at his press conference below...

Hi, Michael. That was probably the worst performance since you've been at the club. What do you put that down to?

"Yeah, disappointed obviously, bitterly disappointed. It hurts tonight. We definitely came here in good shape, looking to get something from the game, if not win the game, and the way it panned out is obviously very disappointing and there's no two ways about that."

It felt, second half, like you started slowly when maybe, you've got the man advantage, you've got the equaliser, it should have been the time to take the game. Why do you think that wasn't the case?

"Football's football and there's things that happen in the game, sometimes go with you, sometimes go away from you but there are certain things we've got to do. Of course, we can be better, we can be an awful lot better. We've put ourselves in a good position, in a decent position with the performances and the results we've had, so yeah, tonight hurts."

I know it's the first defeat so you're bound to be the most disappointed, but you seemed quite angry at the start of the second half. What was it in particular that seemed to frustrate you?

"Just the way the game was going, you know, emotions are part of the game and certain things we wanted to do, and try and do, and we're not doing it. The boys have been fantastic, you know. So, we've lost a game of football and, listen, it hurts me a lot. I'm really, really disappointed with tonight, for different reasons. But we can't lose sight of the position we've put ourselves in as well. So, as much as I'm disappointed we need to learn from it, because it's a bit of a lesson for us tonight, in some ways. We can't lose sight of the bigger picture as well. We've got to be better for this."

We saw you make a hand gesture that you wanted to play a bit quicker, and then two or three times trying to get the ball down the left in particular. Do you think the team has a problem with width at the moment?

"No, we had Cunha playing on the touchline today, he played wide, so we had width in the team. I'm not going to dissect the performance. There were some decent bits but lots of bits we need to get better at. The boys have been good, we've played well and had a lot of results. So, we've lost the game tonight, of course the boys, myself, the players and staff, we're all hoping for a little more but it didn't happen for us."

There were a few contentious moments in the first half, of course the sending off. Have you got a view on those?

"No, to be honest. I think things happen in the game. I've not seen them back, to be brutally honest with you. The result in itself and things from us of what we can do better is what I'm really interested in. I think you get some decisions for you, some against you, it is what it is. I'm not going to pick them apart right now."

You've got another lengthy gap now until your next game. Do you see that as a help, that you get time on the training ground? Or do you wish you were playing again in a few days?

"We've got to make the best of it, really. We've got to make it a help, really. And, as I said, about learning lessons and understanding why tonight was what it was and how it happened, how it developed, going against us. We've got to learn from that, so we'll look at that. And yeah, listen, it's another important game, it's a big week for us. It's one to look forward to. We're in a position now that we've put ourselves in and the boys have put themselves in and that can be really exciting. We've got to be really positive going into the next game and looking forward to it, because there's a lot to play for."