13 mins Byrne shot 0-1

Half time: Latics 1 Magpies 0

61 mins Doyle shot 0-2

63 mins Byrne 0-3

69 mins Doyle shot 0-4

78 mins Aarons header 1-4

Full time: Latics 4 Magpies 1

Peter Beardsley:

"I thought even at 1-0 down at half time we were in the game, but to concede a second and a third in quick succession, it kills you.

“It’s frustrating in that sense, but if they take it in the right way, it’ll be a good experience for them. It’s not nice losing, but if they learn from their mistakes, it’ll be a good experience.

"To lose 4-1 is harsh – people who haven’t been here will see the score and think ‘they must have got battered’. That isn’t a true reflection, but 4-1 is 4-1.

"I’m proud of them, because they kept going until the very end so in that sense I’m very proud of them – they couldn’t have put more effort in.

“In terms of distance covered, with all due respect to Oldham who played well and created chances, we possibly did more running. Sometimes you do that when you haven’t got as much as the ball, but I’ve got no complaints in terms of the effort, enthusiasm and attitude.”

"You have to be a bit more physical – you have to tackle, and be tackled. Richie’s team played some lovely football at times, but they’re men. You look at Gerrard, the captain – a big physical unit, who has played the game for a long time, and great in terms of organisation, toughness and character, and that’s what we’re trying to get into our players.

"We take it personally because we’re very much part of the team and part of the unit. When it goes wrong, we’re to blame as well – I have no excuses for that – but it’s just frustrating, because 4-1, in my opinion, wasn’t a fair reflection.

"The brilliant thing is, in three days’ time we’ll play Liverpool. Football hurts you at the time, but very quickly you can move on. 

"The first team have an international break, they lost to Bournemouth and they can’t do anything about it for two weeks, through no fault of theirs – its just the way it us.

"There’s opportunities for others – certain people might not be able to play, certain players might be injured, Dan Barlaser’s suspended so someone’s going to have to take his place, so you just never know.

"But for us, we’ll move on, and in three days’ time we’re playing Liverpool, and it’s a great game for us to go into.”

Latics boss Richie Wellens commented:

"We were on the front foot for a lot of the game and we created a lot of chances. To score four goals is pleasing.

“The way we played and moved the ball against a Premier League reserve team, they want to play and it allowed us to play so we took advantage of that and we took our chances.

“We have players who are travelling up and down the country and have not had much game time so it was important to reward them.

“The substitutes that came on worked hard as well but it’s difficult to make too many changes because the players who have been playing have done well.

“We have to concentrate on the next tie and see who we get in the next round. Oldham have not been to Wembley in a long time so we are four games and we will see where we will go with it.

“Depending on the draw, people have different priorities so it’s a good opportunity for us. No matter who we play, we can compete against them.

“I will give the lads the weekend off. We will have Monday and Tuesday next week to work tactically on Rochdale.

“It’s a massive two games coming up for us which I want a good points return from so we will be working towards that."

Stats

Group D Final table:

	Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Port Vale	3	2	1	0	3	8
2	Oldham	3	2	1	0	4	7
3	NUFC	3	1	0	2	-3	3
4	Crewe	3	0	0	3	-4	0

Waffle

The reserves played their third and final Group Stage Checkatrade Trophy game on Tuesday, knowing that they needed to beat their League One hosts in 90 minutes if they were to progress.

However, Peter Beardsley's side got off to a poor start at Boundary Park, going behind after 13 minutes when Jack Byrne shot past visiting 'keeper Nathan Harker.

Having barely mustered an effort on goal, United fell two behind in the 61st minute, when Harker blocked an effort from distance by Kean Bryan only for Eoin Doyle to sweep home the rebound.

And within 90 seconds the Latics were cruising into the knockout stages after Byrne grabbed his second and Oldham's third of the night.

A rare piece of action in the home area then saw Rolando Aarons evade a defender and head for goal - only for goalkeeper Johny Placide to block the shot. 

Further misfortune then followed for the black and whites, as Doyle stylishly clipped his second in, following great work by Ryan Flynn on 69 minutes.

United did get one back with nine minutes remaining, Aarons heading in Dan Barlaser's left wing corner at the near post to make it 1-4.

However, the damage was well and truly done by then and the Magpies deservedly exited along with Crewe Alexandra after an another abject display. 

Oldham and Port Vale progress to the knockout stage meanwhile - the latter topping Group A after defeating Alex 4-2 in their final game.

Thanks to GW