United's title hopes suffered a major blow last season when they dropped points in a thrilling 4-4 draw with David Moyes' outfit at Old Trafford.

The two teams meet again at the same venue this weekend, with Ferguson's table toppers careful not to avoid a repeat of last term's disappointing outcome.

"Everton are very experienced and they've only lost three games this season," he told reporters.

"Our memory of last season is disappointing - we lost the title versus Everton.

"But we're playing well, I'm pleased with our form. I'm changing the team around and everyone who has played has done well, which creates competition."

United's manager expressed his dissatisfaction with the Football Association after Under-21 Stuart Pearce revealed defender Phil Jones was suffering from shingles.

"What about doctor confidentiality?" said Ferguson.

"We are disappointed with that."

"It is something we have to address," he added, referring to a previous incident in which England manager Roy Hodgson revealed United player Ashley Young was suffering from a knee issue.

"The FA is a big organisation, things can leak from a lot of different places. But that was a conversation between our doctor and theirs, and shouldn't have gone any further."

Ferguson confirmed forward Young (knee) will return to selection contention, while Michael Carrick (hip) is also fit again.

Everton manager David Moyes said his team's good form against United would count for little when they make the trip to Manchester.

"I don’t know if you can look at our recent results against them because over the years Manchester United have taken an awful lot of points off us," Moyes said.

"Obviously the game this year (sic) we had a good victory and we had a hard draw there last year, but if you look over time they have taken far more points off us than we have off them," he said, referring to a 1-0 victory at Goodison Park on the opening 2012/13 season.

"It’s a real tough game for us. I don’t think anybody would think it is anything less than that."