Michael Carrick insists Manchester United's recent struggles are "not a catastrophe or a disaster" and dismissed talk of pressure on his position as "ridiculous".
Days after a controversial 1-0 home defeat by rivals Manchester City, United surrendered a two-goal lead to crash out of the Carabao Cup with a 3-2 loss to Brighton at Old Trafford, as boos rang out from the Stretford End while Carrick and his players trudged off the pitch.
With just four points from their opening four Premier League games, United need a win at Fulham on Sunday to avoid heading into the international break under mounting pressure, with the familiar feeling that another season could already be slipping away.
But Carrick has called for perspective after back-to-back defeats have put him under pressure just weeks into the season.
"It's not a catastrophe or a disaster," said Carrick. "It's not the end of the world. We're not in the place where we've gone on an awful long run of horrific results, you know?
"We've lost a couple of games recently and we feel like we've started and we've been in all the games that we've played, if not been the better team at the start of games, so it's not like we're having a real struggle all the time.
"We've done a lot of good things in them to put ourselves in really good positions in the games we've been in, so the belief certainly comes from that.
"Of the good things that we've done, that gets totally lost in some ways in the surrounding feeling, but it doesn't get lost by us."
Carrick won 12 of his 17 games in charge last season, but United have already suffered defeat to newly promoted Hull this campaign, been pegged back twice in a 2-2 draw at Everton, and fallen to a City side that had Phil Foden sent off in the 23rd minute last weekend.
Wednesday's defeat to Brighton was the first time United had lost at home after taking a 2-0 lead since 1976.
"History tells you that any team that's successful goes through periods when you have to come through it and improve," Carrick added. "We've had a small period when it hasn't been exactly what we want it to be.
"I was expecting a point when we would go through it, it was going to come. There was going to be a time when you don't get everything out of it that you want. It's how you work through it, how you react, keep doing the right things and believe you will come through it."
Since taking charge last January, Carrick has maintained a calm demeanour and this week insisted that the pressure does not affect him.
Asked if the X-rated chants coming from the Stretford End on Wednesday night hurt on a personal level, Carrick said: "We don't like losing matches. It's not like I don't feel the emotion, but it doesn't affect what we do next."
Bookmakers have reflected the growing scrutiny on Carrick by cutting the odds on him losing his job before Christmas, but the 45-year-old insisted the prospect has not crossed his mind.
"In terms of the future and the [club] ownership and how long I've got, it's ridiculous to think that way in the position I'm in," he said. "It's just not on the radar."
Carrick's approach has come under staunch criticism following United's recent struggles. They rank among the teams covering the least distance and recording the fewest sprints, a statistic that has been reflected in a number of uninspiring performances.
United have also struggled when dominating possession, with their results suggesting they have often picked up more points when they have less of the ball. Asked about their difficulties in possession, Carrick told Your Site:
"I don't think it's a major deal, really. We are capable of playing in different ways; I think we've shown that. From last season, when we came in, playing a certain way, we ended up scoring a lot of goals. We've scored a good number of goals this season in different ways.
"The beauty of it is we can play different styles; we've done that already this season, in different ways. You always try to have as many strings and weapons as you can."
Carrick also places little emphasis on having a defined style of play, suggesting that the difficulty opponents have in reading United's intentions can be an advantage.
"I quite like the fact that someone can't work out our identity, to be honest," Carrick added.
"That means you're unpredictable. From an attacking sense, we want to be unpredictable. We don't want people to be able to read what we are going to do next or what our main strength is. If we can do a good number of things well and attack from a number of areas, I'd rather have a team that does that.
"We've attacked well since January, scored a good number of goals and being unpredictable is a good thing."
Watch the full interview on Premier League Weekend live from 10am, on Saturday.
Watch Fulham vs Man Utd on Sunday, live on Your Site Premier League from 4pm; kick-off 4.30pm.
