Carrick well aware of competition for places

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick believes competition for places is so great at Old Trafford that manager Alex Ferguson may have a problem picking his first-choice line-up.

Having invested heavily in the summer on striker Carlos Tevez, Owen Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson, the Red Devils boss almost has an embarrassment of riches - even taking into account injuries to Paul Scholes, Mikael Silvestre, Park Ji-sung and Gary Neville.