A 2-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, which piled yet more pressure onto the manager, was a third loss in a row and meant United have gone nine matches without a win in all competitions for the first time in 38 years.

A needless red card for Lisandro Martinez, whose outspoken response to a poor summer transfer window earlier in October encapsulated the turmoil engulfing the club, left Carrick facing a losing battle to save the result in west London and perhaps now his job as well.

The frustration was that United were by far the better team in the first half but missed chance after chance, with Bruno Fernandes – restored to the starting line-up as captain after speaking out publicly against his manager on October 21 – and Amad Diallo chief culprits.

Asked whether he felt the players wanted to fight to turn the situation around, Carrick said: “You can’t play like they did (otherwise), especially in the first half. I’m not saying they flipped in the second half, the game just got away from us and it becomes more difficult. We gave away a bad goal and then it’s challenging to be in a situation with 10 men.

“I’m just looking forward to getting the boys ready for midweek.”

Morgan Rogers exposed United’s awful finishing with a fine solo effort at the start of the second half, but the way the visitors’ defence melted away and allowed the forward to drive through the heart of them summed up their malaise.

Martinez then put an arm in the neck of Wesley Fofana at a corner to earn a second yellow card in two minutes and concede a penalty, from which Cole Palmer made it 2-0.

“You’re getting sacked in the morning” was the predictable song from home fans, though Carrick was at least spared the ignominy of a third Chelsea goal, Estevao’s bullet drive ruled out for offside.

“We’ve got to keep moving forward and winning games,” said Carrick. “It’s as simple as that. There’s no words that I can explain to you now that will make it any different. It’s not going to change it. We’ve got to move forward and win matches.

“I thought it was as good as we’d played for some time in the first half. We looked dangerous, we looked fluid, we looked like a good team.

“(The red card) is a big moment in the game. Second half got away from us. It’s something we’ve got to deal with. Sometimes you get setbacks in a game and you’ve got to deal with that better. Two halves of football probably couldn’t be more further apart.”

Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso, whose team recovered from losing to Tottenham and exiting the Carabao Cup to Liverpool, praised the contribution of Estevao after being handed his first Premier League start of the season.

“Really, really happy for him,” said Alonso. “He deserved this moment to connect the good feeling on the pitch with the crowd.

“He was tired at the end but he deserved the ovation. It’s the best way to respond to a coach when you’re not playing that much.”