Manchester United assistant coach Michael Carrick admits moving from a player career has been difficult.

Carrick, now 38, retired as a player in 2018 and was put on the coaching staff by Jose Mourinho. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer retained him after the Portuguese manager was sacked. Ironically, Mourinho brings his Spurs team to Old Trafford on Wednesday.

"The change from playing to coaching is probably bigger than you imagine," says Carrick. "Longer days, different responsibilities, different ways of thinking about the game.

"You get pushed out of your comfort zone doing something for the first time but that happens in any walk of life. I've leaned on (fellow coach) Kieran McKenna to guide me in certain ways. We have a nice blend as a coaching team.

"The thing that drives you on is to play football in a certain way and win things. We all know we haven't been close enough in the league but that's the challenge. I'm relishing the opportunity to play a part in getting us to where we feel we belong. We do feel 100% we are going in the right direction."