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Turner-Cooke "excited" for slice of Papa John's Trophy action
Written by Luke Vinton
Jay Turner-Cooke admitted Newcastle United's Under-21 squad are "excited" to begin their Papa John's Trophy campaign away at Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday night.
The young Magpies, one of 16 Category One academies invited to enter an under-21 side into this season's competition, take on the League Two outfit at the Eco-Power Stadium (kick-off 7pm BST) in their opening Northern Group E fixture before later facing Barnsley and Lincoln City, who both ply their trade in League One.
Turner-Cooke - who travelled to Portugal with the Magpies' first-team during pre-season - revealed United's second-string are heavily anticipating the prospect of senior opposition and are determined to finish as one of the top two sides to qualify for the knockout stages.
"It'll be good experience going up against League One and Two opposition," the 18-year-old attacking midfielder told nufc.co.uk. "Playing these games are massive for myself and other members of the team because it gives us that experience and that is the level we're wanting to play at at the minute.
"When you see the fixtures at the start of the season, these are the ones which really stick out and are very important for us. I think everyone wants to play in these games and be involved for the experience and trying to impress.
"I can't wait to play. It will show you where you're at or where you need to get to even when you play at that level. The quality is still very good so we're going there to relish the experience whilst aiming to put on a good show and trying to get a positive result.
"You're wanting to play in front of as many people as possible. There are usually a few thousand watching in these games, which is more than we normally get in the Premier League 2, so we have to take everything on board and learn from the experience."
Turner-Cooke, who scored 11 goals in all competitions for Newcastle's under-21 side last term, is hoping United's current crop of youngsters can take inspiration from the club's impressive run to the last-16 of the EFL Trophy in 2018/19, which involved facing Sunderland's first-team in front of over 16,000 spectators.
The South Shields-born teenager is hopeful his side can build on Friday's 4-0 win against their Derby County counterparts ahead of travelling to South Yorkshire.
"We'll be going there trying to get three points," he added. "I remember a few years ago, the team got out of the group stages and ended up playing Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. The further you get, you'd get more excited, especially with the possibility of playing at Wembley in the final.
"We haven't had the strongest of starts to the season but we're aiming to put it right and Doncaster would be a perfect game to do that. Getting a result there would be a big statement of intent."