Michael Carrick is close to being sacked by Man Utd but he has arrived at Carrington in his training kit on Tuesday morning.

Michael Carrick has arrived at Carrington on Tuesday morning with his job as Manchester United head coach hanging by a thread.

The expectation is that Carrick will be sacked today, with chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox recommending a change in the dugout, with sources telling the MEN that they have lost faith that the 45-year-old is the right man to dig them out of a crisis.

Carrick and United's playing squad who aren't away on international duty were always due to report to Carrington on Tuesday and the head coach arrived at 7.15am. He used to report for duty at around 7.30am, but sources said he had been arriving earlier in recent weeks as the pressure builds.

The chaotic 4-4 draw with Aston Villa on Sunday means United will spend the international break in the relegation zone, having won just one of their 10 Premier League games so far this season.

Carrick came perilously close to the sack two weeks ago after overseeing back-to-back defeats to Como and Bournemouth by a margin of three goals, but he was handed an unexpected chance to prove to the club's hierarchy that he was the man to turn things around.

The evidence since then has been unconvincing, although performances have improved. United played well in the first half in defeat to Chelsea, then fought back from 2-0 down to beat Roma in the Champions League. They were 2-0 and 4-2 down to Villa before salvaging an unlikely draw.

But they have conceded eight goals in those three games and Berrada and Wilcox were holding talks on Monday to review whether they believe Carrick had shown that he could turn the situation around.

With the decision expected to be that he can't, Carrick is expected to be sacked after 32 games in charge and work on a potential successor is underway, with USA boss Mauricio Pochettino emerging as the frontrunner in the past couple of days.

Pochettino is due to take charge of two USA games during the international break, but his contract includes a release clause that makes any move for the Argentine easier.