Newcastle set to exploit little-known Carabao Cup rule to give them key advantage vs Chelsea

Newcastle are set to exploit a little-known Carabao Cup rule to give them a key advantage against Chelsea.

The Magpies travel to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday for their quarter-final clash as Eddie Howe seeks to go one step further than last season's Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester United.

Newcastle have already got the better of the Blues once this season, running out 4-1 winners in the Premier League last month.

On that occasion 19-year-old left-back Lewis Hall, who is on loan at St James' Park from Chelsea, was ineligible to play against his parent club.

However, the Englishman will be available for selection this time round due to Carabao Cup rules which state that loan players are allowed to feature against their parent club provided they, in this case Chelsea, have granted him permission to play, claim The Sun.

The decision may also play in Mauricio Pochettino's favour, as the west London club look to raise funds following concerns around Financial Fair Play.

Newcastle signed Hall on loan last summer in a deal which included a £34million obligation to buy in June.

However, that clause can only be activated when a number of performance-related factors which have been met, including a specific amount of appearances.

Therefore, the more the defender plays for Newcastle, the closer Chelsea will get to selling him in the summer.

However, Howe has admitted he's unsure if the Tyneside club will meet the criteria to sign him permanently.

“You’re probably asking the wrong man, I’m not 100 per cent sure," he said via The Mirror. "It’s not mine [decision to make]. For me, he’s here now, he’s a Newcastle player. But I think there’s certain criteria he has to meet.

“Lewis is a really talented player. He has huge technical qualities. He is creative and has very good final delivery. He’s a really good attacking full-back. He’s got certain things to learn defensively, which we’re working on with him.

"But he’s a young age and also recently converted to a left-back. There needs to be a little bit of understanding that he may take a little bit of time to get the defensive solidity that we’re looking for, but he’s a player of such high promise.”