Hogg delighted as young Magpies hit Scunthorpe for six

Newcastle's second-string netted three times in the opening 45 minutes at Whitley Park, courtesy of Tom Allan's brace - his 15th and 16th goal of the season - along with Elliot Anderson's splendid solo effort.

The Iron, however, cut the deficit to one goal in the Group C encounter as George Hornshaw netted on the stroke of half-time before Yasin Ben El-Mhanni, who made his senior debut for the Magpies back in 2017, netted against his former club.

However, Jack Young's curling free kick and late finishes from Yannick Touré and Oisín McEntee secured Newcastle's place in the knockout stages of the competition along with marking an impressive start for the newly-appointed under-23s head coach.

Hogg, who joined the club on Wednesday, told nufc.co.uk: "First of all, I'm delighted to see them play in a game. It was really nice for me to see them play live for the first time after watching them on lots of videos over the last few weeks and, obviously, coming out with a positive result.

"Things can always be better and there are things that we can tidy up but I was delighted for the boys. I think they showed some real good qualities and attitude which has been great since I came in and was on show today.

"The pleasing thing is the goals came from things that have been spoken about quite regularly here. The understanding seems to be building with the group around some expectations. I think it was a real positive today.

"The energy and enthusiasm to attack was good at times. We had some pace on the break and the boys scored good goals. I'm really pleased for them because it's not been an easy week with someone new coming in, a different face and voice, so I'm delighted for the players."

Following Friday's eight-goal thriller, Newcastle's second-string take their unbeaten run to five games, with their last four matches ending in victories.

After conceding twice against Scunthorpe, Hogg - who began his playing career at Ipswich Town's Academy - was impressed with the character shown from his new side following brief setbacks to complete a resounding win.

The former defender added: "I made a point to them about having a real, ruthless mentality. That's what you're going to need to make a career in the game. I think they showed real character to score more goals and the belief rose again and we saw the game out relatively comfortably.

"The group seems to be full of confidence and there's some good characters in there. There seems to be a good vibe around the players at the minute.

"A lot of talk around results helps breed that and my job is to try and develop that confidence and develop certain aspects of individual game but, for sure, if we can keep the collective game strong, that helps everything tick along and helps everyone understand why we do certain things, when you're getting results at the end of the game."