United's second-string travel to Nottinghamshire to take on the League Two outfit in their final Northern Group H clash at the One Call Stadium, with both sides unable to progress into the knockout stages following respective defeats against Sheffield Wednesday and Harrogate Town.

Savage, who joined the Magpies' Academy in June from boyhood club Liverpool, still believes the young squad can greatly benefit from the experience of facing the Stags' senior side, who knocked out Sunderland in the FA Cup first round on Saturday.

The 20-year-old centre-back told nufc.co.uk: "We're very determined to get points on the board as the first two games we played, we didn't get the results we wanted. However, we gained a lot of positives and experience from both games so it would be good to end on a high and get the three points.

"Every game is valuable and we need to go into it looking to get three points, as we would with any match. With these games in the Papa John's Trophy, you're playing against men so you're gaining a lot of experience. I think this one will be the same and hopefully we can top it off with a win.

"It's been physically challenging and mentally too. It is men's football but this is what you're going into so it will put us in good stead for the next step in our careers. I'm sure everyone who has played in these games have gained lots of positives from them so far.

"You want to be playing men's football and this is what you're going into. You can engage with what it's like and learn a lot of things.

"When you do make that next step into the men's game, these are the sort of games you look back on thinking that's where it started and that experience you have, might have that little edge over someone who has not played in the competition. It's a great tournament to be a part of."

Newcastle's youngsters suffered a heavy defeat in their recent Premier League 2 fixture - a 5-0 away defeat at Southampton on Friday.

Savage, though, believes the quick turnaround can allow United's under-21 side to quickly atone for their negative setback against the Saints.

"It was a tough one to take," the defender added. "You don't want to lose a game like that but we have a lot of things to improve on, which we're already trying to do on the training ground which is good.

"Having the Mansfield game so close, we know we can turn it around and make everyone forget about that defeat we had on Friday against Southampton.

"We don't have time to dwell - we have to move on quickly. Having a game so close means we can put things right straight away and changes everyone's opinion on the previous game. We'll aim to put things right on Tuesday."