A youthful-looking United gave an early indication of their potential with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Manchester City in the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday.
Defender Smalling, 21, new goalkeeper David de Gea, 20, and 20-year-old striker Danny Welbeck, who is back from a loan spell at Sunderland, all started.
Ferguson is renowned for his ability to continually renew his side and he now looks to be bringing in a new generation following the recent retirements of Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Edwin van der Sar.
FRESH START
Smalling, who scored the goal which sparked United's winning comeback from 2-0 down, said: "The manager said the young players will get a chance this season.
"At half-time in a big game like this you could see the young players step up. Hopefully that can carry on all season.
"I think we could go from strength to strength. Quite a few people feel like they have got a fresh start. They have been out on loan and are making a big step.
"The manager has given them a chance in pre-season. You can see these players are good enough and hopefully they will get more chances."
Smalling is now in his second season at Old Trafford following his move from Fulham.
He remains behind Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic in the pecking order for centre-half berths but his performance at right-back against City underlined his versatility and value.
He said: "This year the aim is to really kick on and play more. Hopefully I can start to get some more games at centre-back. But if the manager feels that I can play the odd game at right-back then I'll help if I can contribute."
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