The young Magpies, who have made an unbeaten start in the Premier League 2, travel to Hillsborough on Tuesday night (kick-off 7pm BST) to take on the League One outfit, who suffered relegation from the Championship last term, in their opening Northern Group H fixture.

With Harrogate Town and Mansfield Town also to face in the competition's group stages, Stephenson - who has netted five goals in three league matches for United's second-string - is relishing the prospect of facing the Owls, who currently sit in second place of the English third tier.

The Blyth-born forward, who signed his first professional contract for his boyhood club in July, told nufc.co.uk: "It's our first game in the Papa John's Trophy so we want to get off to a strong start against a good side who are second in League One.

"It's going to be a tough game for us so we will need to work together as a team and try to show our qualities as individuals.

"It'll also be a pleasure to play at Hillsborough as it has such history and it'll be a great opportunity for all of those who will be playing on the night.

"It's a great competition for the under-21s to be a part of. It's good experience playing against senior opposition and older players. We've had a few pre-season friendlies against senior sides which will help us ahead of these type of games.

"There's only a few games you get to play in this competition so we want to do well in them and try to progress further."

Newcastle's youngsters occupy top spot in the Premier League 2 Division Two and Stephenson, who currently leads the goalscoring charts, revealed the squad are heading into the EFL Trophy encounter in a positive mood.

The teenage forward, who scored a brace in the young Magpies' 2-0 win against Burnley on Friday night, securing back-to-back league wins and clean sheets in the process, has been impressed by his side's promising start to the season.

"We've shown some good qualities in the first few games of the season," the 18-year-old added. We haven't conceded a goal from open play so that's great for us heading into the game.

"Scoring five goals in three games has given me loads of confidence and hopefully I can carry on doing that, trying to score in every game I play.

"It's a great vibe around the academy at the minute. We didn't really get back-to-back wins last season so to start off unbeaten is a very good start and we'll be aiming to continue that on Tuesday night."

Admission on Tuesday night will be via the West Stand turnstiles, with prices set at £10 for adults and £5 for over-65s and under-21s.