Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has warned Champions League opponents VfB Stuttgart not to expect his side to become a victim of their counter attacking game plan.

Winners of the tournament in 1999, United were often guilty of leaving their defence exposed in previous European campaigns, most notably in the quarter-final second leg defeat by Real Madrid in 2000.

But Ferguson has since worked on cutting out his side's naïve defending and the team will need all of that experience when they face Stuttgart in their Group E outing on Wednesday.

Despite being beaten 2-1 by Scottish side Rangers in their previous Champions League match, Felix Magath's side are top of the Bundesliga and have not conceded a goal in their opening seven league games.

"The way they play, they could easily pull us into the trap of going at them all the time and then they would catch us," Ferguson was quoted as saying in Monday's Manchester Evening News.

"We won't let that happen because we have that experience. But Stuttgart do set out to make sure they don't lose goals so it could be a tight game.

"It could be one of those where you run out of patience and have to make sure you don't get frustrated."

Ferguson, whose team thrashed Panathinaikos 5-0 earlier this month, also pinpointed Belarus midfielder Aliaksandr Hleb as the man United have to watch out for.

"They play with a very tight four man diamond in the middle of the pitch," he added.

"They have one lad, Aliaksandr Hleb who is very quick and springs from midfield quite a lot.

"They also have a Brazilian Marcelo Bordon, who sits in front of the back four and doesn't move. He just defends."

But Ferguson hopes the return to fitness of England midfielder Paul Scholes from a hernia problem will help open up the German side's defence.

"He is a great one to bring in. He gives us that extra player that is a natural goal scorer and his creativity is important," Ferguson said.