Michael Carrick provides Luke Shaw update ahead of derby after missing Champions League opener

Michael Carrick has confirmed that Luke Shaw 's absence against Sabah on Thursday was purely precautionary. The fullback was left out of the Red Devils' squad during their commanding 4-0 victory in their UEFA Champions League opener at Old Trafford.

The United manager has reassured supporters that Shaw was not sidelined by any serious concern, with the decision made to protect the defender ahead of this weekend's highly anticipated derby showdown with crosstown rivals Manchester City .

Speaking ahead of Thursday's match, Carrick said, via The Mirror : "It's a little bit of that [managing him]. He came off the other day [at Everton ] with a little bit of cramp.

"We didn't want to take any risks really. We tried to manage him so we will see how he is after this one."

With Shaw unavailable, Carrick reorganized his lineup, handing Patrick Dorgu the nod at left-back. The Danish fullback delivered an impressive performance, setting up Matheus Cunha for the Red Devils' opening goal while also contributing to the side's first clean sheet of the season.

Dorgu was additionally awarded Player of the Match honors. Reflecting on United's dominant victory, he said: "It was good. Really thank you to god for giving me the opportunity to play in the Champions League.

"I'm really happy with my performance and really happy that the team got the three points and are up and running in the Champions League."

He added: "The last couple of games, we conceded a lot of goals so it was good to get the confidence going into the derby at the weekend."

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Carrick was also able to afford Dorgu a breather, with fellow defender Harry Amass handed a late substitute appearance at left-back, having been omitted from the squad for the 2-2 draw with Everton the previous weekend.

United boss Carrick expressed satisfaction with his side's ability to shut out Sabah. He said: "It's nice to have a clean sheet and obviously win the game. There was a lot. I thought some of our attacking play was fantastic. Some of the football we played was really good, dangerous on transition.

"Defended on the most part really well. I have to give them [Sabah] a lot of credit. A really tough team to play against. They play little connections and make you really work to get the ball back. The result looks comfortable, it wasn't always like that. I thought we did a lot of good things tonight which gave us a good result."