Man United manager search: Michael Carrick looking to the future as 44-year-old moves into pole position for long-term Old Trafford job

Michael Carrick has said that he is planning for the long term at Manchester United, with the Englishman not making any decisions based on "short-term or quick fixes".

The Red Devils have won six and drawn one of their seven matches since Carrick's arrival as head coach, with that excellent run of form seeing the 20-time English champions rise into third spot in the Premier League table.

As sides around Man United continue to drop points, the team are in an excellent position to secure a return to the Champions League for next season.

Carrick had been brought in as an interim head coach, with the club planning to appoint a permanent replacement for Ruben Amorim this summer.

However, the 44-year-old's outstanding work at the helm means that he is now the favourite to take the job on a permanent basis at the end of the season.

Carrick is fast emerging as the favourite to be appointed long-term Man United head coach

When questioned on his position moving forward, Carrick said that he was planning for the long term at the club.

“It’s going to be every week this, isn’t it? There’s no getting away from the situation of course. There’s not really an awful lot I can say about it to be honest," Carrick told reporters during Tuesday's press conference.

“I love being here. I love doing what I’m doing. I’ve said it from the start, I’m not making any decisions for short-term or quick fixes.

“I think it’s the responsibility, however long I’m here, to make decisions that are the best for the football club in the long term. Of course, winning games helps and the boys are doing great with that. We’ll just have to see where it ends up.”

Could Man United win the Premier League title this season?

Man United are 13 points behind league leaders Arsenal, who have played a game more, and Carrick said that "you can't rule anything out in football" when questioned on a possible title challenge late in the campaign.

“Listen, you can’t rule anything out in football, but we’ve got to be realistic and know where it’s at," added the Englishman.

“I think we’ve just got to try and keep winning games and see. Above us now there are two fantastic teams. There’s some really good teams in and around us.

“We’ve had a good run, we’re certainly not getting carried away. You’ve got to be patient but you’ve got to be living in the moment a little bit, certainly, take the confidence.

“Wherever that’s going to take us, we’ll just have to see. But we’ll keep pushing anyway. Definitely a glass is half full on what you can achieve more than the negative side, that’s for sure. Of course, I’m being realistic about it. We have to win a lot of football matches for [a title challenge] to happen.

“So we’ll do what we’ve been doing and go one at a time. We’ve got one more [game] and then we’ve got a little bit of a break before [Aston] Villa. So we’ll go and give it everything on Wednesday night.”

Man United only have Premier League football to focus on for the remainder of the season, and they face a huge test away to Newcastle United on Wednesday night.