However, the Scot admits his side must overcome West Ham on Tuesday.
An excellent recent run, since their fifth defeat of a difficult Premier League campaign at Fulham in December, had taken United to within a point of favourites Chelsea.
But they slumped again on Saturday afternoon, going down 3-1 at Goodison Park despite taking the lead through Dimitar Berbatov.
With 11 games of the season remaining, it now looks unlikely United will get to the 90-point mark that has tended to be required to clinch the championship in recent times.
Yet Ferguson has already claimed 82 could be enough this year so, as he reflects on a disappointing performance against the Toffees, the Red Devils chief does believe his side can get themselves back in contention by beating West Ham at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
"It was a bad result for us and at this time of the year you can't afford results like that, but I don't think we will panic because it has been a funny season," he said
"Teams have been losing points that you don't expect so the very nature of the league suggests we still have a chance.
"But Tuesday is a massive game now."
Ferguson was at a loss to understand why his side performed so poorly, failing to force Tim Howard into a significant save once Diniyar Bilyaletdinov had levelled just two minutes after Berbatov's opener.
Although United controlled the game for long spells, Everton were more incisive and it was no real surprise when Dan Gosling bundled the hosts team in front after Steven Pienaar took advantage of Antonio Valencia's failure to track back and sent over an excellent cross for the youngster.
Jack Rodwell finished United off near the end, leaving Ferguson to wonder whether his side's midweek efforts in Milan had taken their toll.
"Milan could have had an impact," he said.
"It is difficult to think that when you go through all the emotions and the pace and intensity and atmosphere of a game like Tuesday, you don't lose something.
"Whatever it was, it was just too much for us today.
"We had some good chances early on and we could have been two or three up.
"The equaliser changed the game a little bit. But it was the second half that let us down.
"Our second-half performance was very poor and when you are going for the championship you expect Manchester United to respond to the importance of the game."
Rio Ferdinand will be available on Tuesday after completing his four-match suspension, while central defensive partner Nemanja Vidic could also come into contention after being named on the bench for today's encounter.
Meanwhile Everton boss David Moyes claimed the best was still to come from his side.
The victory came after Everton similarly came from behind to beat leaders Chelsea 2-1 in their last league outing 10 days ago.
The Toffees have lost just one of their last 12 and are threatening to force their way into European contention.
Moyes said: "We can start looking upwards a bit more than downwards.
"This was always going to be a tricky month and we have started it pretty well.
"It was a great result and you don't beat the big teams that often so we are delighted.
"I have said for a while on our day we can be a match for the teams above.
"We have not got everyone fit but I think it shows the spirit we have got.
"I think we can play better and I think we will."
Everton have had to contend with a lengthy injury list for most of the season and this week learned key midfielder Marouane Fellaini would miss the rest of the campaign.
Another influential midfielder, Tim Cahill, was also missing after suffering a calf injury in midweek.
"We are winning the games without Fellaini and Cahill and it was Fellaini and (Steven) Pienaar the other week," added Moyes.
"At the start of the season we struggled to win the games when we had players missing, but there were reasons for that.
"I honestly think when we have got the squad together we can be a match for most teams.
"The players know what I expect and how I want it to be. Today they took it on.
"I really wanted to have a go at Manchester United, the players wanted to have a go.
"I thought we did that as much as we possibly could.
"I thought we grew into the game, we got stronger as it went on."
Moyes was pleased to see his substitutes make such an impact after being disappointed with how the team finished in the 2-1 win against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.
The Scot said: "I think the two young boys have come on and done it before.
"The substitutions in midweek didn't work for me and I was annoyed. Today the two of them did.
"As we know Dan Gosling has got a goal in him and Jack Rodwell made up for a bit of a mistake in midweek by settling the game."
Moyes also revealed that Landon Donovan played after a flu scare this morning.
"I told him most of the players in England play with flu four or five times a year," said Moyes.
"If you are from Los Angeles you probably don't know what flu is!"
The American, on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy, delivered another impressive display but Moyes again said there were no plans to extend his loan beyond the end of March.
Donovan is due to rejoin his parent club for the start of the Major League Soccer season.
"I think Landon would like to stay but at the moment it probably looks as if not," Moyes said.
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