Michael Carrick insists Manchester United's recent struggles are "not a catastrophe or a disaster" and dismissed talk of pressure on his position as "ridiculous".

Days after a 1-0 home defeat by Manchester City, United surrendered a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 to Brighton at Old Trafford, as boos rang out from the Stretford End. With just four points from their opening four Premier League games, United need a win at Fulham on Sunday to avoid heading into the international break under mounting pressure.

"It's not a catastrophe or a disaster," said Carrick. "It's not the end of the world. We're not in the place where we've gone on an awful long run of horrific results. We've lost a couple of games recently and we feel like we've started and we've been in all the games that we've played."

Carrick won 12 of his 17 games in charge last season, but United have already suffered defeat to newly promoted Hull, been pegged back twice in a 2-2 draw at Everton, and fallen to a City side that had Phil Foden sent off. Wednesday's defeat to Brighton was the first time United had lost at home after taking a 2-0 lead since 1976.

"History tells you that any team that's successful goes through periods when you have to come through it and improve," Carrick added. "I was expecting a point when we would go through it, it was going to come. How you work through it, how you react, keep doing the right things and believe you will come through it."

Bookmakers have cut the odds on him losing his job before Christmas, but the 45-year-old insisted the prospect has not crossed his mind.