But the Manchester United manager knows they will not be able to escape for that much longer with their charitable defending that has seen them concede 15 league goals already this season.
With the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium looming on Sunday, Ferguson will know his side can ill-afford a repeat defensive performance. "I thought it would be a record score against Reading for the Premier League at half-time," he said. "It was unbelievable. There was some real bad defending in the first half. The worst we have been this season, absolutely the worst. "We have to sort that out. We got battered and deserved to be but we are getting goals to rescue us all the time.
"In the first-half I said to myself it would be a miracle if we win this one the way we were defending. I'm just glad we did win it.
"It's not a question of character. But if you make mistakes like that defending, then it's going to be rescue jobs every week. Once again this was." United conceded six goals, albeit on home soil, 14 months ago to next opponents Manchester City. It looked as though history could repeat itself at relegation-threatened Reading before Robin van Persie had the final say in the seven-goal thriller to send them back to the top of the league.