Sitting at the foot of the table, Peter Ramage's side were aiming to leapfrog their Forest counterparts with a victory at Little Benton but Detlef Esapa Osong's second-half strike saw United's youngsters fall to a fourth consecutive league defeat.

Playing in windy conditions on Tyneside, United goalkeeper Max Thompson was penalised for touching the ball twice as the teenage goalkeeper, who kept a clean sheet on his England under-18s debut against Russia in October, saw his initial kick propelled back to his own net, forcing the Newcastle-born shot-stopper into illegally punching clear.

Thompson made a close-range stop from the resulting free-kick but was unable to prevent Osong from netting the opener in the 71st minute following the striker's low shot.

Despite their hunt for an equaliser, the Toon teenagers were unable to test Forest goalkeeper Aaron Bott during the 90 minutes as their winless league run extended to eight matches.

Newcastle's under-18s turn their attention to the FA Youth Cup on Wednesday night when they face an away tie against Blackpool at Bloomfield Road (kick-off 7pm GMT), with the young Magpies bidding to reach the quarter-finals of the competition for a second successive season.

Newcastle United Under-18s: Max Thompson, Rory Powell, Beau Beresford, Scott Bailey, Ciaran Thompson (Harry Barclay 46), Ellis Stanton, Ben Parkinson, Lewis Miley, Michael Ndiweni, Jay Turner-Cooke, Kyle Crossley (Jamie Miley 46).

Subs not used: Steven Bessent, Joel Green, Shaun Mavididi.