Sir Alex Ferguson has insisted he will not be panicked by Manchester United's early-season struggles. After opening the defence of their Premier League title with successive draws, United were defeated by rivals Manchester City at Eastlands yesterday. Although they dominated possession and territory, once again United were unable to score, going down to a deflected first-half strike from Geovanni.

It leaves Ferguson's side languishing in 16th, seven points behind Sven-Goran Eriksson's league leaders, with just a solitary Paul Scholes goal to show for their efforts. It is the worst start United have made to a league campaign since 1992-93 - when they took one point from their first three games - but Ferguson knows they still went on to win the league that year.

"At this moment in time we have to rely on our experience and make sure we do not get carried away with a knee-jerk reaction to it all," said Ferguson. "I cannot fault the performance because it was outstanding. We completely dominated the game but we have thrown it away because we didn't take our chances."

Ferguson did admit his side now have it all to do if they are to force themselves into title contention. Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal have all started the season brightly, leaving United playing an unwanted game of catch-up.

"We have given ourselves an uphill fight, there is no doubt about that," he said. "We know the position we have put ourselves in. Over the years we have always been able to overcome these things. We will have to do so again. But this is a league where if you make mistakes like this one, it punishes you. We have to get a win under our belts. We have Tottenham on Sunday and that has become a very important game for us."