Newcastle United coach Neil Redfearn has warned his players to expect another "eye opener" in their Leasing.com Trophy clash at Shrewsbury Town tonight.
The Shrews are sitting in 12th place in League One and come into the game on the back of a 1-0 win at Tranmere Rovers at the weekend.
And Redfearn knows it will be a different environment to the usual Premier League 2 affairs.
Ahead of the long trip to Shropshire, the second string boss told the Chronicle: "There were one or two things that happened at Macclesfield that the ref let go.
"Which is fair enough, you live or die by the sword.
"But it's an eye-opener for the lads.
"The beauty of it is we have got youngsters like Joe White and Elliot Anderson who are both young guys for the future.
"They are learning to ply their trade at a good level.
"It's all positive."
Redfearn has guided Newcastle to three wins so far this term but is doing the job with a clutch of his reserve squad out on loan.
He said: "It is an important period.
"We've got a small squad as a few of the lads are out on loan.
"Shola Ameobi is managing that loan system.
"We have regular meetings with Ben Dawson about who can step up and who can manage.
"We don't have big groups with the U18s and U23s.
"We have kids coming through with Neil Winskill is doing a great job.
"If we can keep giving them bits and bats of experience it will only bode them well."
Three-goal Luke Charman is expected to lead the charge for Newcastle in Shrewsbury tonight but the Magpies need a win in order to stay in the competition after losing 2-1 at Macclesfield.
Redfearn said: "We're pleased with Luke.
"Luke is a work in progress.
"He is learning.
"He is a big lad and can lead the line but he also has the skills to lie a bit deeper if we need him to."
