Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick has insisted that the top four is "not out of sight" after this afternoon's 1-0 Premier League defeat at West Bromwich Albion.
The Red Devils went into the match on a four-game winning streak in all competitions, but rarely troubled the Baggies and had Juan Mata sent off in the first half for two yellow cards.
The result leaves United sixth in the table and three points behind Manchester City, who have a game in hand, in fourth.
When asked about the club's top-four hopes, Carrick told Sky Sports News: "It's not out of sight. We just need to get back to winning ways. It's easy to say. We have big cup games coming up and we need to be ready for them.
"It's a setback. We wanted to carry on the form and results we have shown of late so it's very disappointing. Losing a man like we did makes it even more difficult."
Carrick felt that Mata's dismissal hurt United's chances of causing problems on the counter-attack.
"It changed the game because you have one less man in attacking areas which affected us on the break especially," Carrick added. "They were not causing us many problems but took their chance."
Up next for United is a trip to arch-rivals Liverpool on Thursday for the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie.
Pascal Lemesre
