Carrick backed over Sesko derby call - 'I would have done the same'

Michael Owen says Michael Carrick made the right call in not starting Benjamin Sesko in the Manchester derby but insists the Manchester United striker will only become the 'real deal' if he plays more.

The Slovenia international has yet to start a Premier League game for United this season despite scoring 11 league goals in 30 games after moving to Old Trafford for around £74million last summer and was once again a second half substitute in Sunday's Manchester derby, which United lost 1-0.

Gary Neville felt there was a case for introducing Sesko at half-time after Manchester City were reduced to 10 men midway through the first half when Phil Foden saw red for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes.

Carrick waited until the 67th minute to introduce Sesko from the bench, while his decision to omit the striker from his starting XI has been debated. But Owen says he would have taken the same approach given Sesko is not currently an elite centre forward.

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest news, analysis and much more on Mirror Football's Facebook page

Get our comprehensive football coverage, with news, updates, opinions, analysis and everything that matters to you, straight to your inbox.

To get it, it's a quick and easy one-two:

1. Head THIS WAY

“I think Sesko still needs to develop more as a player to be the real deal,” Owen told The Metro. “Surely Manchester United have aspirations of being the best team in the country again and winning the Premier League. For them to do that, I would suggest that they need a centre-forward that is one of the best in the world.

“Is Sesko one of the ten best centre-forwards in the world? No, I don’t think he is. How do you get him there? Well, maybe you play him a bit more and give him more experience. Maybe that is the way forward.

“But as things stand now, if I was picking the team yesterday, I would have done exactly the same as Michael Carrick. I don’t think he’ll be having sleepless nights.

“I think Sesko is a great impact player. I’ve got no problems if one of them got injured and he started. He’s scored goals from starting and from coming off the bench.

“He’s a good player to have in your squad, but I don’t think there should be a massive clamour all of a sudden just because they didn’t score a goal in the game. They scored five goals against Ipswich not so long ago.”