We could have had four or five, says Jack

Owen Gallacher, Victor Fernández and Callum Roberts were on the scoresheet at Whitley Park, but the Magpies were made to wait on their progress to the last eight after just failing to find what would have been a pivotal fourth goal.

United are currently well-placed for a spot in the quarter finals as one of the group stage’s best runners-up, but any two of Bayern Munich, Benfica, Porto or Tottenham Hotspur could yet qualify at their expense.

Midfielder Hunter was quick to acknowledge that his side’s fate could already have been sealed, but praised his teammates for coming through a bruising encounter with a positive outcome.

“In terms of the result, it’s really impressive, because they were a really good side. In terms of the performance, I think we could have done better,” he told nufc.co.uk.”I know that might sound critical, but I don’t think we kept the ball as well as we know we can.

“I think we maybe could have been more clinical with our chances, but I think we just put it down to bad luck on the night. We could have come away with four or five. That was the aim, as that would have guaranteed qualification. Now, we’re just waiting to find out, but overall, it’s still a really good result.

“Getting stuck in is a part of football I love, but I’ve never been in a game quite like that before, where there’s been so much confrontation around the referee. I’ve never been in a game quite like that before It must be part of the game over in Holland. They did a few dodgy things, but he seemed to handle it.”

Hunter has now played in each of the young Magpies’ last four outings, having sat out almost the entirety of the first half of the campaign through injury.

“I spent three or four months out with a small fracture in my leg, which was really disappointing, but it’s good to be able to bounce back,” he said. “This is my fourth game back and I feel really strong, so hopefully I can keep going the way I am until the end of the season, and we’ll see what happens.”