Ferguson denies it´s panic stations

Sir Alex Ferguson has denied it’s time to panic following Manchester United’s 3-0 defeat at Newcastle United.

Ferguson said he has the squad capable of bouncing back after two consecutive losses.

The champions fell behind after a Demba Ba volley and a stunning free-kick from Yohan Cabaye before their misery was completed in injury time after Phil Jones netted an own goal.

United’s first away defeat of the campaign has left them three points behind league leaders Manchester City, while Tottenham also have the chance to pull level on points with Ferguson’s side if they win their game in hand against Everton.

“This is not a time to be panicking. We’ve got the personal experience to cope with that,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.

“Losing the game at this time of the year – you don’t want it, it sometimes can happen, you’ve seen some of the results recently.”

“But obviously we need to get the show on the road in terms of the run-in, particularly in March and April.”

Despite a promising start, which saw Dimitar Berbatov head against the post, Ba’s opener gave the hosts confidence to pin United back.

“They scored a fantastic goal and it really pepped everyone up in the stadium, their supporters get up, they get aggressive against us and made it difficult against us,” Ferguson added.

“It was a marvellous volley and the second one just after half time was a killer for us. Marvellous strike from the free-kick.”

“But we didn’t make enough of our possession with the ball anyway.”

“The story of the game was they had two fantastic strikes that put them in the driving seat, they weren’t going to lose it. They were really determined and made sure they didn’t lose it.”

Meanwhile, Newcastle manager Alan Pardew hailed striker Ba as ‘outstanding.’

“Outside his goal, which was top-class, Demba’s all-round performance was outstanding,” Pardew said.

“He picked it up in the hole, he went behind, he put himself in the firing line and he was aggressive in the air. It was as good a performance as he has put in.”

“It is difficult to compare him to others strikers in the Premier League because he hasn’t had too much time here in England but this year you would have to put him in the top four or five.”

“His biggest asset is his personality – he is a winner.”

“Whatever role I have given him he has always tried to do to the best of his ability. His all-round performances have been excellent and tonight he was a leader and he put in a performance to match that.”

Pardew claimed the key factor behind Newcastle’s first win over the Red Devils in a decade was their determination not to allow the visitors to get into their stride.

“We were aggressive in the box and we got our reward for that but we also played some really decent stuff. We were brave. We pushed on to them,” he said.

Pardew is keen to make sure his players remain grounded.

“One or two were exceptional but I am just proud of all of them. But my job is to make sure that we don’t get too carried away with that because we have got a very important game coming up at the weekend in the FA Cup against Blackburn.”