The young Magpies travel to the Lamb Ground for their opening Group C fixture after being drawn alongside Hartlepool United, Tamworth, Solihull Moors and defending champions Boreham Wood.

United's second-string completed a pre-season training camp in Pinatar in preparations for the new campaign and Sanusi, who made his professional debut for the Magpies during an Emirates FA Cup third round tie against Bromley in January 2025, is targeting a positive start to the season.

The 19-year-old winger, a representative of England at U18 level, told newcastleunited.com: "The team has been working hard, especially during our camp in Spain. The last couple of weeks in the Academy building have been strong and we're straight at it, making sure we're fit as well as focussing on the technical side.

"The team is gelling well and there's still more room to do that. I feel like we're in a good place so far but we need to just keep building on our work.

"The team want to start our first competitive game as strongly as possible. We're all up for the challenge and aim to win the game. We're excited and we want to show what we can do.

"I'll be taking every game as it comes, whether it's my professional debut or playing for the U21s. I will try to express myself in the same way and show I'm capable of playing in a first-team environment."

Sanusi spent the duration of the 2025/26 campaign on loan at Ligue 1 side Lorient but faced a number of months on the sidelines due to injury, spraining his ankle upon arriving at the Stade du Moustoir before sustaining a knee injury earlier this year.

The teenage forward, however, believed the unfortunate setbacks did not hinder the first loan move of his career as he was able to develop off the pitch amongst the senior group.

"I think moving to a new country which would be challenging for anybody at any age as I didn't grasp the language until the end of the season," he added.

"It was a good learning curve in all aspects both on and off the pitch. I was unfortunate with an injury at the start of my loan which set me back towards when the season started.

"When I was in and around it, I learnt a lot in training and, personally, it has given me the hunger to come back and show what I can do.

"I was around older players so I had to bond with them which helped me mature as a person and they also gave me good advice I needed.

"This season, I want to get as many goals and assists as I can. I think most know what I can do on the ball but it's about improving on my end product. I've started well, scoring two goals in my last two games, but I need to continue doing that."