Send your favourite player a Christmas message - amazing new service from www.contacttheplayers.com

You can send an email to the likes of Michael Mancienne and he replies!

Red Hot Football have all you need for a United Christmas - including the wrapping paper! Head to Red Hot Football

Michael Carrick insists he is capable of holding down a regular role at the heart of England's midfield.

The Three Lions are well stocked in that department; with the Manchester United ace facing tough competition from the likes of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Gareth Barry, Owen Hargreaves and Jermaine Jenas.

The fierce battle for places has restricted Carrick to just 19 appearances for his country, with the languid playmaker often overlooked when it comes to the crunch. There is no doubt that England is a better side when he plays and typically the betting markets respond favorably when his name is on the teamsheet.

He admits his cap haul is disappointing for a player of his undoubted ability, but the 28-year-old is confident he can add to his tally in the future.

"I totally agree that I should have more caps," Carrick said.

"But I don't really scratch my head. Things haven't worked out with England as much as I would have liked.

"I don't know why. Maybe I've not played well at the right times, or things haven't fallen for me. It's not something I'm focused on.

"What matters now is looking ahead and doing what I can to be successful in the future and trying to be positive."

Michael Carrick last night withdrew from the England squad for this month's 2010 World Cup qualifiers, leaving Fabio Capello one central midfielder light as his players train for the first time today.

The England medical department were informed yesterday that Carrick, 27, had a problem and would not be able to play in Saturday's World Cup qualifier away to Kazakhstan or the match at home to Andorra four days later. It could open the door for Jermaine Jenas; his Spurs team-mate Tom Huddlestone is unavailable after surgery on his knee.

Capello is already without goalkeepers David James and Ben Foster, and Stewart Downing and Aaron Lennon as well as long-term absentee Owen Hargreaves. He is confident that Rio Ferdinand will be fit.

The four England squad members who played in Saturday's FA Cup final – John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Joleon Lescott – all emerged unscathed from the game.

Capelllo said that the defeat to Barcelona in Wednesday's Champions League final should not affect his Manchester United players.

He said: "I reached three [European Cup] finals and only won one, but you always have to look to the future. You have to forget what happened and move forward. In football we are very lucky; we can win immediately after losing. For these players the next game will be very important for this reason."

Michael Carrick admitted Manchester United were forced to claim victory 'the hard way' as they moved to the brink of the Premier League title.

The Red Devils are now just one point away from equalling Liverpool's record of 18 top-flight crowns after Carrick scored a late winner to secure a 2-1 success away to Wigan.

Carrick drilled home from the edge of the box to put the champagne on ice ahead of Arsenal's trip to Old Trafford on Saturday lunchtime, live on Sky Sports 1 and HD1.

The former West Ham and Spurs midfielder told Sky Sports: "To score a goal as important as that is a great feeling. I had to make up for my miss in the first half. The win was vital tonight.

"Wigan didn't sit back and defend, they came at us and caused us a few problems. They had a number of chances and we rode our luck a bit.

"It's not the first time we've come from behind and we do it the hard way, but it's a good feeling when it happens.

"Carlos coming on and scoring like that got us back in the game and from then on we just wanted to nick the winner and we've done that."

Now you can send an email to Michael Carrick, thanks to a brand new website that delivers all electronic messages to the footballers within days!

Contact The Players.com allows fans to send personal messages - and some footballers will even REPLY!

Check it out - Email Michael Carrick.

Michael Carrick believes Manchester United could regard themselves as "something special" if they manage to complete a Premier League hat-trick this season.

Although Sir Alex Ferguson's men are on FA Cup duty this weekend and face a fifth-round trip to Derby on Sunday, at the back of their minds is the knowledge that on Wednesday they entertain Fulham, when a win would send them five points clear of their only remaining realistic challengers Liverpool.

From there it would take a remarkable turnaround to deprive United of a third successive title for only the second time in their history and Carrick said: "You have got something special if you win three in a row. It would be an amazing achievement and would show what a good team we have been over a consistent period."

He added: "We have done a little bit of the work but there is an awful long way to go yet. This league has already shown there are some unexpected results to be thrown up.

"It would be incredible to do it but we have to earn that right."

Ryan Giggs and his Manchester United team-mates may still believe they can win teh quadruple!

United are still in it to win it in the FA Cup and Champions league, whilst they top the Premier League adn are in the final of the Carling Cup!

"Hopefully the latest injuries won't have too much of an impact because we've also got the likes of Patrice, Wayne, Wes and Rio all coming back. So that should help," said Ryan.

"People have been talking about us winning all four trophies, but as players we just get on with things. We've got as far as we can in the League Cup now and we'll look forward to the final when it comes round. Next it's the FA Cup, then it's back to the league.

"We've just got to perform well in every game and make sure we have the right attitude and concentration going into whatever competition we're playing in."

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will have been frustrated by his side's wastefulness, with Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo guilty of throwing away obvious openings.

It was United who had the first opportunity when Arsenal keeper Almunia inexplicably picked up a backpass from Mikael Silvestre inside the first two minutes. Arsenal were relieved when Anderson's free-kick was half-cleared and Michael Carrick turned the loose ball wide.

Rooney missed an even better chance for United after 17 minutes, carelessly lofting an inviting ball from Ronaldo over the top when it seemed certain he would score.

Arsenal took full advantage of the reprieve to take the lead five minutes later, when Nasri's shot took a crucial deflection off Neville and wrong-footed Edwin van der Sar. It was a wonderfully open game but Arsenal were playing like a team stung by recent criticism and the sight of old rivals United had only inspired them further.

Fabregas had a shot deflected just wide but United were threatening themselves and Almunia needed to save well from Ji-Sung Park.

If there was a frustration for Arsenal, it would have been that the crucial second goal had eluded them, despite their dominance. They did not have to wait long to get it as Nasri doubled their advantage three minutes after the restart. Fabregas was at the centre of affairs again, punishing United for failing to pick up Nasri when he threaded through a perfect pass for the France midfield man to beat Van der Sar with an emphatic finish.

United, uncharacteristically, were lacking a cutting edge and wasted a perfect opportunity to grasp at a lifeline immediately after Arsenal's goal. Park found Ronaldo unmarked at the far post but he dragged his shot across the face of goal with only Almunia to beat.

Almunia then required lengthy treatment after an accidental clash with Carrick as United refused to give up on the belief that they could get back into an enthralling encounter. He carried on but was clearly in discomfort and was replaced by Lukasz Fabianski with 12 minutes left.

United also replaced Rooney with Carlos Tevez and Anderson with Ryan Giggs in what was clearly a last throw of the dice by Ferguson as time ran out. Rafael, who had replaced Neville in the 63rd minute, pulled one back in the final minute with a spectacular left-foot volley from the edge of the box after Arsenal failed to clear a Giggs cross.

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick is hopeful that his injury woes are finally behind him after starting and scoring in the Red Devils' narrow 4-3 win over Hull City on Saturday.

The England international etched his name on the score sheet with a well-placed strike past goalkeeper Boaz Myhill in the 29th minute. "It was nice to score and get off the mark," said Carrick in the Manchester Evening News. "It was the longest I have played in three months, so hopefully that is going to get my fitness up and ready for the coming weeks," he said.

Carrick admitted United's complacency nearly cost them the game, after the Tigers clawed their way back from 4-1 down. "Being so close at the end did not really fit with how the game went. We created so many chances and played some extremely good football, but we shot ourselves in the foot with a few errors."

He added: "When you step away from it, we have won the game and got three points. Now we can move on to Celtic."