Manchester United's senior players must step up and help create another cycle like the one overseen by legendary former boss Alex Ferguson, says Darren Fletcher.

Fletcher remains without a victory after two games as United's interim boss after they bowed out of the FA Cup with a 2-1 defeat to Brighton on Sunday.

That loss ended any realistic hopes United had of ending the season with silverware, with 2025-26 destined to be their seventh trophyless campaign in the last nine years.

And with no European football on the schedule, either, United will play just 40 games in all competitions this season – their fewest in any campaign since 1914-15 (39).

On Monday, reports suggested that United were closing in on the appointment of former midfielder Michael Carrick as interim head coach until the end of the season, having sacked Ruben Amorim last week.

Fletcher is viewed as likely to stay on as Carrick's assistant, with the Red Devils waiting until the end of the season to make a permanent appointment.

But regardless of who takes charge in the long term, Fletcher believes United's senior players need to learn from the way Ferguson's senior players commanded the dressing room. 

"I was lucky to play with players I played with in a dressing room. I learned from the older players, and it became a cycle," said Fletcher.

40 - Following their early exits in the League Cup and FA Cup, Manchester United are now guaranteed to play just 40 games in all competitions this season, their fewest since the 1914-15 campaign (39). Brief. pic.twitter.com/bPz9G68GFh

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 12, 2026

"We weren't aware of that when we were younger. We thought we knew what it takes but we didn't and the older players, the experienced players, the ones who had been there before and did it, they educated us. 

"They moulded us, Sir Alex moulded us. That was a cycle that was created, that cycle takes time to create.

"But again, there are experienced players in that dressing room who need to come together and carry the team, who need to challenge the team, who need to make the new players understand it, and pull them along with them and drag them. I hope that they do."

Things do not get much easier for United as they take on neighbours Manchester City at Old Trafford on Saturday, before visiting Premier League leaders Arsenal eight days later.