Important lessons for Carrick - and will Sesko start Manchester derby?

[Getty Images] Manchester United will experience far stiffer tests of their Champions League credentials than Sabah gave them at Old Trafford. In fact, it would be no surprise if the Azerbaijani champions were by some distance the weakest of the eight league stage opponents Michael Carrick's side will come up against. However, there were some important lessons for the head coach to absorb. The biggest of them is that United are a much more effective unit when Benjamin Sesko starts. Have your say on Man Utd's display on Thursday This was the first time the Slovenian had done so since the Liverpool game last March, when he finally accepted he could no longer play through the shin issue that had been plaguing him for a number of weeks. He was only at the stage where he could be brought on as a substitute in the second half of the opening-day trip to Hull City . The same also applied for the subsequent outings against Ipswich and Everton . It was Sabah's bad luck Sesko was fit to start against them - and it showed. At 6ft 5in, the 23-year-old has a physical presence United's other strikers lack. He offers a totally different threat, pushes defences back, isn't easy to dispossess and runs at opponents rather than away from them. And he scores goals. Sesko had clarity of thought against Sabah, swiftly moving the ball past goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov before steering the ball into an empty net. It isn't that Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha can't do that, it is more that Sesko can do it in addition to presenting the physical threat. "There aren't many around that give you what he does in terms of physique, physicality, playing on the last line and speed to run in behind," said Carrick. "It is great to have him back at this level after working to get his fitness back. I'm really pleased with the way he has gone." It is a fairly obvious thing to say, but Carrick now has a big decision before Sunday's Premier League derby against Manchester City at Old Trafford (16:30 BST). Does he trust Sesko's fitness and stick with him? Or does he revert to Cunha, given there has been no indication Amad Diallo is ready to return? Read the full article here