Newcastle were thrashed 8-0 by the A-League All-Stars in a post-season friendly in Melbourne.
Eddie Howe made wholesale changes to the team that beat Spurs on penalties on Wednesday and the youthful XI he picked were no match for a side made up of the top players from Australia and New Zealand’s premier league.
Ben Old put the All Stars in front after five minutes and goals from Nicolas Milanovic and Adam Taggart made it 3-0 before half-time.
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos scored twice after the break before Jake Hollman, Jordan Courtney-Perkins and Bozhidar Kraev added to Newcastle’s misery late on.
The timing of the tour had been called “madness” by former England and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer.
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“That was a tough one for our young lads. You can see probably the gap between experience and youth,” said Howe.
“I don’t think we could have [played any of the first-team players], especially when you combine the traveling time that we’ve had and the quick time between games, it was too big of a risk of injuries and we couldn’t afford that.
“I think just too many mistakes, forced by the All-Stars playing well. A lot of our players need to reflect on that and see what they need to do to come back stronger.”
With Bruno Guimaraes and Miguel Almiron having departed to begin preparations for the Copa America and many more rested, England full-back Kieran Trippier was one of the few first-team players in the squad.
But despite the young visitors’ struggles, the more experienced Trippier, Lewis Hall, and Elliot Anderson remained on the bench.
With the brief trip to Australia now at an end, several Newcastle players will return home to ready themselves for this summer’s European Championship in Germany, which starts on 14 June.
The Copa America gets underway in the United States the following week.
Sources: BBC Sport
