Michael Carrick is thankful for Paul Scholes' presence at Manchester United

Michael Carrick is thankful for Paul Scholes' presence alongside him at Manchester United - and it has nothing to do with the song in his honour.

With Scholes presently sidelined by a knee injury and winding down his career anyway after coming out of retirement in January last year, Carrick has assumed ever-increasing importance for the Old Trafford outfit this season.

It was recognised by United's away support at Loftus Road on Saturday, when they hailed Carrick's passing style as being almost a replica of Scholes'.

An unassuming character by nature, Carrick's response is to claim the song "Hard to believe it is not Scholes" is delivered tongue-in-cheek.

Of more significance to the 31-year-old is the help Scholes has given him during his near seven-year stint with the Red Devils.

"Scholesy is a legend, so I don't know whether it is tongue-in-cheek but it is a nice song and I will take that," said Carrick.

"It is always good to be compared to players like that.

"Paul is as good as it gets and has been throughout his career.

"To train alongside him and have the chance to learn every day has been something I have tried to make the most of.

"It has helped me bring my own game on whether he knows it or not and that has been a big help."

Scholes is even less likely to get lured into a media frenzy than Carrick, so the former England man's depiction of his team-mate as a "Rolls Royce" of a player has to be worth something.

Yet again, though, Carrick prefers to side-step the compliment, underlining instead a belief that Scholes' comments show just how united Sir Alex Ferguson's squad is in their Treble quest.

"It shows the respect there is within the squad for each other's game," said Carrick.

"We all have different qualities and we all want to help each other to be successful.

PA