Ahead of his first game as Manchester United 's caretaker boss, Michael Carrick can take comfort from the fact he has already made an impression on one of the club's biggest stars.
Bruno Fernandes has discussed what it was like to witness Carrick, who was already part of the coaching staff at the club before the Portugal international had arrived, train alongside the squad.
Carrick is known to join in with training sessions and Fernandes has previously waxed lyrical over both the former England international 's technical prowess and ability to dish out advice.
"I was watching in training and Carrick was playing because we had players missing and he didn’t miss a pass," Fernandes told the UTD podcast.
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"It’s unbelievable how fresh and sharp he is doing the exercises with us, and I was talking with Fred and I was going to say to him, ‘Hey, watch him playing and do the same!’ but I thought it was unfair and so I didn’t say it!"
Fernandes went on to suggest that Carrick could even still do a job in United's first team such is his ability still to this day, three years after he called time on his playing career.
"But it was amazing — if someone from outside came to watch training, nobody would say this guy isn’t playing in the team.
"He’s a player who has that quality of passes and also when we need to do some finishing or passing exercises, he’s always there helping us with the balls.
"I’m learning a lot from him and he’s one of the people I like to listen to, because he was a big player, he won a lot of trophies for the club and for me you have to learn from these players."
Carrick will take charge of United's crucial away clash at Villarreal as the Red Devils now aim to progress from the Champions League group stage with an caretaker boss at the helm.
The 40-year-old also faced questions from the press as part of his pre-match media duties and insisted he will remain in charge until he is told otherwise.
"It's only been a day since things unfolded and the game isn't much further forward, so that is all I've been thinking about," Carrick explained.
"I've not looked past that, I'll be here however long as the club want me. We should get good results."
Carrick was quick to replace his predecessor, revealing: "I found out yesterday morning. I spoke to Ed Woodward at the training ground.
"It was a bit of a rush to organise training, but it went really well all things considered. Everyone reacted in a classy manner.
"Ole epitomised that, how he behaved, it shows the class of the man and how loyal he is."
