Manchester United boss Michael Carrick has held clear-the-air talks with captain Bruno Fernandes.

Standard Sport understands the under-fire duo have had face-to-face discussions ahead of Saturday’s crunch Premier League showdown with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Fernandes is now expected to quickly return to United’s starting lineup in west London, having been left on the bench throughout last weekend’s dismal 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth.

That decision came after the Portuguese had publicly criticised Carrick’s tactics following a dismal 4-1 loss to Como in the Champions League, which continued a dreadful start to the season and piled more pressure on the manager.

United believe that Fernandes has been back to the best version of himself over the last 48 hours after a difficult couple of weeks both on and off the pitch, which included his £4million home being robbed by a masked gang while United were away in Italy.

Carrick, meanwhile, is set to remain in charge for the trip to Chelsea and be given more time to turn things around at Old Trafford despite the widespread expectation that he would be sacked just five months into his permanent reign, having taken training at Carrington in recent days as normal.

There will be extra scrutiny on United’s performance at Stamford Bridge, with co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe poised to be in attendance for the Saturday lunchtime kick-off.

Bruno Fernandes and Michael Carrick have held clear-the-air talks at Manchester United

PA

Explaining his choice to drop Fernandes - the reigning PFA Players’ Player of the Year who set a new Premier League single-season record for assists last term - against Bournemouth, Carrick described it as a “pure football decision”.

“You're picking a team, a starting XI, you've got options to choose from so there's always a difficult decision,” he told Sky Sports. “We've got to make what we think is the right one for the team to try and get the performance we want.”

He had initially refused to rule out dropping Fernandes during an extraordinary and emotional pre-match press conference that began with a passionate address that lasted for almost six minutes, insisting: “The most important thing for me is the team, the squad and dynamics in the squad.

“It's about the football club. I'll always do what is best for the football club.”

Fernandes initially sparked controversy with his comments following the thumping defeat by Como, just a week after team-mate Lisandro Martinez had taken aim at United’s hierarchy and transfer business in a furious rant after the 2-0 loss to Atletico Madrid.

While Martinez apologised and was reportedly fined for his outburst, Fernandes has not been punished and retains the club captaincy he has held since July 2023.

"It's a decision from the staff to not press man to man and sometimes leave space behind and try to get the ball, but sometimes when you give too much the ball to these teams they get confidence," Fernandes told TNT Sports after the Como debacle.

Asked if he felt Carrick had got his tactics wrong, Fernandes said: “That's on the manager and staff to see it, not me. Sometimes you have to be more brave under pressure, take the risk of pressing high and making them uncomfortable.”

Carrick quickly hit back at Fernandes during his post-match press conference, saying: “There's a little bit of whatever system you play, whatever tactics you play, if you don't run, and you don't run forward, and you don't run back, you aren't going to win.”