Ludwig Francillette reacts to senior call-up at Newcastle United

The defender, signed as an unknown last summer and a regular at Under-23 level, travelled with injury-hit Steve Bruce’s squad for the weekend’s third-round FA Cup tie against Rochdale.

And Francillette – who didn’t make the bench at Spotland – has spoken about the experience of training with the club’s senior players after being invited to train with the first-team squad.

The 20-year-old said on Twitter: “Made the walk across to train with the 1st team. It's just great to learn and improve around such good players and great pros. I'll keep working hard to be called upon if and when needed in training.”

Bruce was without a number of defenders, notably Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar and Ciaran Clark, against Rochdale. Florian Lejeune was an unused substitute after playing four games in 11 days over the festive period.