Sir Alex Ferguson has promised there will be no knee-jerk reaction to Manchester United's early-season slump.
After opening the defence of their Barclays Premier League title with successive draws, United were defeated by local rivals Manchester City at Eastlands.
Although they dominated possession and territory, once again the Red Devils were unable to locate the target and were eventually unable to claw back Geovanni's first-half opener for the Blues.
It leaves Ferguson's side languishing in 16th spot, seven points behind Sven-Goran Eriksson's league leaders, with just a solitary Paul Scholes strike to show for their efforts. The situation could be even worse by the time they face Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday as two of the four sides currently below them, Derby and Birmingham, face each other 24 hours earlier at Pride Park.
It is the worst start United have endured to a league campaign since 1992. But Ferguson knows that season ended with championship glory and the Scot is not about to start making wholesale changes because a couple of results have gone against his team. "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," he said. "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, who suggested Owen Hargreaves would not play for England on Wednesday as he looks to rest his troublesome knee ahead of the Tottenham encounter, did admit his side now have it all to do if they are to force themselves into title contention. While City are unlikely to remain at the Premier League summit for too long, 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."
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