Newcastle’s second-string twice in the opening 45 minutes of their Group F encounter at Whitley Park, with Ateef Konaté breaking the deadlock for the visitors before Joe Gardner’s scrambled close-range finish on the stroke of half-time doubled Forest’s lead.

Konaté rounded off the scoring in the closing stages of the cup contest after completing a swift counter attack for the Reds, with United’s youngsters remaining situated in third place on two points, two adrift of the qualification spots at the halfway stage of their group campaign.

Ben Dawson made two changes from the side which claimed a 1-0 win against their Everton counterparts in the Premier League 2 a fortnight ago as Johnny Emerson, a representative of Scotland at under-19 level, was handed a start along with fellow Scot Charlie McArthur, who has captained his country at under-19 level.

Following two draws in their opening Group F fixtures, Newcastle’s youngsters were targeting a victory against the Tricky Trees’ second-string in order to move into top spot.

However, in the 11th minute, Newcastle fell behind following Konaté’s strike. After racing onto Josh Powell’s lofted pass in behind the United defence, the French forward cut inside before drilling a powerful effort past Magpies goalkeeper Will Brown.

Josh Scott, who joined United’s youth set-up in 2013, went close to equalising for the hosts as the Gateshead-born winger collected Charlie Wiggett’s pass inside the box but his resulting effort was parried by Forest goalkeeper Aaron Bott.

Lucas De Bolle, who was named on the Magpies’ first-team bench for their UEFA Champions League away clash at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, almost netted his first goal of the 2023/24 campaign at second-string level as the Scotland Under-21 international advanced forward before his bending strike from the edge of the box was tipped around for a corner by Bott.

Brown, who joined United’s academy in the summer of 2021, produced an impressive double save after pushing away Aguilera’s initial effort before quickly blocking Gardner’s close-range rebound.

However, from the resulting corner, Forest netted a second as an unmarked Justin Hanks saw his first-time attempt tipped onto the post by Brown before Gardner scrambled the loose ball into the net on the goalline.

In the second half, Brown produced an strong stop to deny Konaté from extending the visitors’ advantage further. After Aguilera stole the ball from Remi Savage, the eight-time Costa Rica international picked out the Forest striker, who saw his first-time effort blocked by the Magpies goalkeeper before the loose ball has hacked to safety.

Dawson made a triple substitution on the hour mark, with Ellis Stanton, Ciaran Thompson and Kyle Crossley all introduced from the bench and the latter, who scored in United’s 1-1 draw against Forest in the Premier League 2 in September, saw a cross-cum shot importantly held by Bott.

In the 82nd minute, Newcastle were dealt a further blow as Konaté notched Forest’s third of the afternoon. After Forest won possession on the edge of their own penalty area, the ball was quickly fed into Jamie McDonnell, who drove towards goal before the Forest skipper slipped the ball into Konaté’s path who slotted the ball into the far right-hand corner.

Newcastle United Under-21s: Will Brown, Charlie Wiggett, Charlie McArthur (Kyle Crossley 60), Cathal Heffernan (c) (Ciaran Thompson 60), Remi Savage, Nathan Carlyon (Ellis Stanton 60), Lucas De Bolle, James Huntley, Josh Scott, Johnny Emerson, Dylan Stephenson (Michael Ndiweni 72).

Subs not used: Adrian Janusz.