The 21-year-old was heartened to have made a contribution on the field after an injury-hit start to the campaign.
He set up Papiss Demba Cisse’s goal a minute after making it on to the pitch, with Newcastle trailing 2-0 to strikes from Anderson and Tom Cleverley, with a fine cross.
Shane Ferguson: “I saw a bit of space, and I thought I had a chance.
“I put it in, but I thought the centre-back would touch it, but Cisse was there at the right time, as he always is.
“If you’ve got players like that in front of you, it makes it a lot easier.
"He’s a massive player, and he shows week in, week out how good he is.
“It put us in good stead for the rest of the game as we tried to get back into it.
“I was just glad to get on to the pitch and play at Old Trafford – it was a dream come true.
“I remember coming here as a kid when I was about eight years ago, getting a tour round the stadium and thinking how unbelievable it was.
“It’s great that the manager’s got that faith in me. He just said to get at that full-back and try and get as many crosses in as I could, as he knows what I can do with my left foot.
“I was just glad to get on to the pitch and show people what I can do, but I was also disappointed with the result.
“The lads are gutted. It was just one of those nights – the ball didn’t fall for us in the right areas.
“We just have to put it behind us and look forward to the weekend.”