Manchester United Under-18s were beaten 1-0 by Sunderland at the Academy of Light with Andrew Nelson scoring the second-half winner.
Paul McGuinness' youngsters have already qualified for Group A of the nationwide competition with a top-four place assured and the away game was one of two left in the North East with leaders Middlesbrough to follow.
Ro-Shaun Williams captained the team in the absence of Axel Tuanzebe with the regular skipper and Marcus Rashford both starting on the bench after being involved in the Manchester Senior Cup semi-final defeat to Bolton Wanderers on Monday night.
The first half was a cagey affair with neither side managing a shot on target as the strong winds made life difficult for the players. Dean Henderson and his opposite number James Talbot remained untroubled although Daniel Wright should have done better when firing wide from a one-on-one situation with Henderson.
After losing Cameron Borthwick-Jackson to an early injury, the Reds only really found their rhythm in the second half with substitute Joe Riley denied by Talbot, who was out quickly to save, and Ruairi Croskery's shot deflecting wide from a Devonte Redmond pass.
Ethan Hamilton fired over the top from the resulting corner and the misses proved costly as Jordan Blinco cut the ball back for Nelson to tuck in the only goal of the game with 13 minutes remaining. Rashford and Tuanzebe both entered the fray late on but United will hope for better fortune at Middlesbrough on Saturday.
United: Henderson; Reid, Williams, Fosu-Mensah, Borthwick-Jackson (Riley 16); Thompson (Tuanzebe 85), Redmond, Dearnley, Hamilton; Rathbone (Rashford 82), Croskery. Subs not used: Byrne, Dunne.
