Donachie admitted he “expected better” from his young Newcastle reserve team following their 4-0 defeat by Everton.
The game was played behind closed doors at the club’s Benton base, but the handful of observers – made up of scouts and media – witnessed a game totally dominated by Everton.
Willie Donachie: “The gut reaction is very, very disappointing.
“There is always something to clutch at.
“If nothing else we have had a full assessment of the players we have and where they are at.
“We knew before they were very young, but I expected a better performance than that.
“On the day it was very disappointing, but there is lots of work to do and stuff to build on.
“I do not like making excuses.
“However, we have had 10 or 15 players playing before who are not playing now.
“Defenders like Tavernier, Henderson, Dummy and Steve Folan, that is a back four which have been missing.
“Then you have the first-teamers who have not been involved in the last two games like Dan Gosling and Alan Smith.
“It has been a depleted team, but it was still an opportunity for our young players to gain valuable experience.
“Sometimes it is just a hard learning curve for them. That is how it seems at the moment.”
NEWCASTLE: Rob Elliot, Alex Nicholson, Remie Streete, Tamas Kadar, Davide Santon (Michael Riley 75), Michael Richardson, Ben Sayer (Adam Campbell 46), Bradden Inman, Samuel Adjei (Brandon Miele 62), Joan Edmundsson, Haris Vuckic.