Every word of Michael Carrick’s Leeds United pre-match press conference – live updates

Reporter: Good afternoon, Michael. It's been an eventful few days. Can you just give us an update on how the Lisandro Martinez situation has unfolded over those days, and kind of where we're at now?

Carrick: It's done, really. We've gone from that kind of— it was one of those things, which has come out in acknowledging the situation and, as a group, we've moved on. It's really not a drama for us as a group. I think the boys have trained really well, and this morning there was a really good feeling around the squad. A really good feeling, I have to say. They were in really good spirits and trained really well, so we've moved on pretty quickly.

Reporter: I appreciate you said it's done, but he did have some big things to say after the game. He also said yesterday there's been some talks with yourself, the club's hierarchy, Jason Wilcox, Omar Berrada. He said those were constructive. Can you just maybe give us an idea of what was discussed, and do you feel like everyone is aligned from the squad?

Carrick: From the outside, I can, after some kind of big information about big discussions, it was pretty simple. It was, "We all understood the situation, what it meant." Licha's obviously made his statement and he acknowledges as that was a mistake from him, and that was it, really. You know, we— we've got a really good feeling within the group, I have to say. We've got a really good feeling within the club from the inside. Results-wise it hasn't gone to plan of late, but the spirit, the togetherness is— again, I said it today— today was one of the better training sessions we've had, and you can see there's a real sense and a feeling within the group that we want to do something about this situation and we want to do something about it really quickly. And hence, when I'm saying about moving on, we all acknowledge where we're at, we accept that, we understand the situation that came up after the game, but it's been dealt with. It's— and we have moved on, genuinely moved on, and there's actually a freshness about the group today, which I really liked.

Reporter: Michael, is Martinez available for some of these games? Is he part of the squad?

Carrick: He's part of the squad, yeah. Yeah. 

Reporter: Can I just check on the other players that have been out injured as well? Luke Shaw, Kobe Mainoo, and what's the latest on Benjamin Sesko's injury?

Carrick: Yeah, we'll see on Luke and Kobbie. Ben's kind of still going undergoing a couple of kind of checks that we're really trying to— before we kind of update on timelines of everything, we're just trying to be clear with what that looks like, so he's still a little bit further away, but when we know a little bit more, we'll let you know.

Reporter: Michael, you said that you trained really well today and I'll take you at face value on that, but how—
Carrick: - I'm telling you the truth.
Reporter: But how do you—
Carrick: You do not believe me, no?
Reporter: Well, how— when Lisandro comes out with something like that, how can people believe that there is unity in the squad when what he said was so damaging? He didn't apologize for what he actually said. He said it— he apologized for how it came out. There's a lot of fans— a lot of people within the game— not just supporters, but ex-pros, that are in agreement with what he said. So how— when you're saying the things that you're saying—

Carrick: There's a lot of people that say a lot of things, and ex-pros are ex-pros. It doesn't necessarily mean they understand what's going on here.

Reporter: But why should people believe you when there is so much—

Carrick: I've said, you know, just because people talk from the outside, that doesn't mean that's the truth. I'm telling you the truth, the squad today was in a fantastic place, better than I've seen it for a while, actually. It, it's plain and simple. You know, we're living it every day. We know what it feels like. We're emotional, we're passionate, we care a lot. Sometimes someone says something that's a little bit— maybe you shouldn't say it at that certain time, but it's— that doesn't distract us from what we're creating here and the environment and the spirit within the group. That's— it's not affected. I'm telling you. I'm telling you as it is. It's not affected. We're in a good place, and I'm— I'm really happy with the boys today, especially. I thought there was a really good reaction today.

Reporter: You also know that you need— you personally need results. How would you—
Carrick: - I don't need results. I don't need results. We all need results. There's a— it's not about me. You know, it's not about me.

Manchester United is a lot bigger than any individual. It's bigger than me, bigger than any player, it's anyone else who works at this football club. It always has done. And it's not about me. So please, I don't go into every day and work on this situation, this game, thinking about me. It's not— it really is not about me, and it's not about any individual player. It's about the football club, what we stand for, what we live for, the history, the things that we need to live up to, and that's what drives us. So whatever's best for the football club and for the team on Sunday is the most important thing. It really is not about me.

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That was the end of this section of the press conference. The embargoed section will be released at 10.30pm tomorrow and will be available in full shortly afterwards on The Peoples Person.