Jose Mourinho insists Michael Carrick has an important role to play at Manchester United, despite not having played a minute of competitive football since being named captain.
The long-serving 36-year-old was named skipper after all-time top scorer Wayne Rooney's summer departure but his elevated status has not brought any game time.
Carrick has not even made the bench at times in the early weeks of the season, but looks set to finally get some minutes under his belt in the Carabao Cup third round tie against Burton on Wednesday night.
Last season it was not until United's opening game in this competition that he made his first competitive appearance, before going onto play an important role for the remainder of the campaign - something Mourinho suggests he can do again.