Michael Carrick has claimed that a lack of European football could help Manchester United retain their Premier League title this season.

The Red Devils were knocked out of the Europa League last week following their exit from the Champions League in December.

"Ideally we'd still be in the Champions League and we'd be playing twice a week, but the way things have gone it means we've pretty much only got one game a week now," Carrick told the club's official website.

"That means we can prepare a lot better for each of those and relax properly after each exertion. Normally we don't get the opportunity to do that – it's usually a case of play, recover, play, recover and it's all done very quickly.

"You'd have to say the situation we're in now should give us an advantage in that area compared to previous seasons. It will help us be at 100% for each game."

Carrick could feature for United when they host Fulham in the league on Monday night.