But the 22-year-old responded in the best possible way as he asked to play for United's under-23s on Monday night and put in an excellent personal performance in a 5-0 win over Sunderland's second-string at St. James' Park.

Sterry - who was handed his Magpies debut by Rafa Benítez in the 5-1 win over Tottenham in May 2016 - had featured regularly for the first team during pre-season and DeAndre Yedlin's knee injury could potentially have led to an opportunity for the defender.

But Javier Manquillo got the nod for Saturday's 0-0 draw, and Sterry was not part of the matchday squad which meant that when Manquillo limped off at half time, Isaac Hayden had to fill in at right-back.

Rather than lick his wounds, however, Sterry's reaction was to set up a goal in an eye-catching all-round display on Monday evening.

Afterwards, he told nufc.co.uk: "For me, it was good to play. I want an opportunity to play in the first team and all I can do is give my all.

"I feel like I'm good enough and last weekend I felt like I could have had a chance, so it was a bit disappointing. But you've got to keep your mental strength really high and try to be positive about it.

"All I can do is give 100 per cent, and I asked to play in the game because I want to play football and show everyone what I can do.

"I've got a great family around me, great friends and girlfriend, so they help me to be positive about everything and tonight I feel like I gave a good account of myself."

Skipper Owen Bailey opened the scoring, then Cal Roberts made it 2-0 before the break after Sterry's cut-back.

And in the second half, Luke Charman grabbed a brace before Danish teenager Elias Sörensen put the seal on an emphatic victory.

Sterry - who spent the second half of last season on loan with Crewe - added: "It was great seeing a lot of the lads getting a taste of playing at St. James' Park, which is the best feeling in the world, and I thought we did really well.

"We put on a good show and showed people what we can do. If you start well in a game, get an early goal, you can kick on and it makes everything more relaxed.

"Everyone was psyched up but you have to not let the moment beat you. You've just got to focus and do your job.

"All the lads coped really well tonight; before the game, everyone was buzzing, a couple of them were a bit nervous because some of them probably hadn't played in front of so many people, but I thought everyone was really good."