United are now in a strong position as Group B leaders after goals from Ryan Giggs and Carrick defeated the German champions at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

The 2008 winners now prepare to face CSKA Moscow in the Luzhniki Stadium - the scene of their third European Cup triumph 17 months ago - later this month, with qualification for the knock-out stages in sight.

And Carrick insists that the unseen qualities within the United camp are the reason why Sir Alex Ferguson’s team can continue to win games in the closing stages. He said: “When we went a goal down against Wolfsburg, we stepped up and still believed we could win the game.

“There’s a lot of belief, confidence and trust in each other in our squad and I think that’s shown this season through the amount of goals we’ve scored in the latter stages of matches. “Fitness helps too, but the character and the mental strength we have certainly helps. It’s never ideal going a goal down but when it does happen we always believe we can bounce back.”

Ferguson has set a target of 10 points to qualify from Group B, ensuring that a victory and a draw from their back-to-back fixtures against Juande Ramos’s CSKA will prove sufficient. And Carrick admits that United are now reaping the rewards of a positive start to the group campaign.

He said: “It’s always important to get off to a good start in your group. “The win in Turkey against Besiktas two weeks ago was a big result. To win in that environment, away from home, was tough, but we came through that test and we’ve now built on that momentum.

“Wolfsburg are a good side and their strikers caused us problems, but we knew what to expect and, fair play to them, they came and played football and gave us a good game. “We defended well and played some good football. Sometimes luck just didn’t fall for us at times, but we’ve won the game and we’re happy with that.”