Soccer:Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson insists his club have too much experience to implode in the Premier League title race after suffering a 3-0 defeat at Newcastle.

The defending champions remain three points behind derby rivals Manchester City at the top of the table after the comprehensive loss on Wednesday night.

Defeat inflicted more misery on Ferguson after his team lost back-to-back league matches for the first time since March having also been stunned by Blackburn on New Year's Eve.

But the Scot, while acknowledging City are in the driving seat, knows there is still a lot of twists and turns in store in his club's quest for a 20th league title.

"Advantage to them, of course,” said Ferguson.

"(But) It's not a time to panic - we have the experience to cope with that."

A first-half strike from the brilliant Demba Ba was followed by Yohan Cabaye's free-kick in the opening minutes of the second half and Phil Jones' late own goal to give Newcastle victory.

Ferguson made no excuses and instead gave credit to the quality of the first two goals.

"We started reasonably well. But they scored a fantastic goal and it really picked everyone up in the stadium,” he said.

"The second was a killer for us. We didn't make enough of our possession."

Of Newcastle's front pairing of Ba and Shoal Ameobi, Ferguson added: "They are very strong, big aggressive lads.

"They didn't tear us apart, but they were a handful. The story of the game was they had two fantastic strikes which put them in the driving seat."