Yet again, the Red Devils were forced to come from behind on Wednesday, with Carrick grabbing the late winner to overcome Wigan.

It leaves United a point away from clinching an 18th championship, which they will secure in front of their own fans tomorrow if they avoid defeat to Arsenal.

The comeback was fairly sedate compared to their more dramatic efforts against Aston Villa and Tottenham last month.

And when the champagne corks start popping, Carrick will feel his team-mates have had to drag themselves out of the mire on more occasions than they would have wished.

"You are not going to play your best every week," he said.

"We have been playing great recently but we have come from behind too many times this season. If we do win it, we will have done it the hard way."

With Darren Fletcher, Park Ji-sung and Ryan Giggs among those ready to come back into United's starting line-up, plus Rio Ferdinand if the England defender overcomes a calf problem, Ferguson once again has plenty of options at his disposal.

It is not an uncommon occurrence for Arsenal to win at Old Trafford. Indeed they have emerged victorious on three of their last 12 visits, and drawn on two more occasions.

However, Arsene Wenger's men might struggle to hold their hosts on this occasion, given the importance of avoiding defeat and the battering they have taken over the past week, when a Champions League beating by United was followed by an even worse mauling by Chelsea.

"We have got to respect Arsenal because they are a good side and we know they can hurt teams," said Carrick.

"Over the last couple of games we have had the better of them but that doesn't mean anything tomorrow.

"We have to start again because I am sure they will want a bit of revenge."

The extra desire not to lose comes not just from the knowledge United can win the title in front of their own supporters for the first time since 1999, but also because it would render next week's visit to Hull - for United at least - meaningless, giving a vital few extra days preparation for the Champions League final against Barcelona on May 27.

But Carrick is not looking beyond tomorrow and ensuring there are no late scares to concern himself with.

"We have still got to do the job," he said.

"We are not getting carried away because all we have done is put ourselves in position. We have still got business to take care of yet.

"In an ideal world we would have it tied up tomorrow, in front of our own fans, then we can relax a bit and look forward to the final."