Why Newcastle United duo who played v Chelsea are ineligible v PSG as trio called into Champions League squad

Newcastle United have travelled with a squad of 18 players for Tuesday's Champions League clash at Paris Saint-Germain (8pm kick-off).

The Magpies are able to name a matchday squad of up to 23 players in the Champions League but injuries mean Eddie Howe's side are significantly depleted for the group stage clash at Parc des Princes. Newcastle's 18-man squad for the match against PSG includes three goalkeepers and Under-21s players Lewis Miley, Ben Parkinson, Michael Ndiweni and James Huntley.

But Champions League squad rules differ from the Premier League regarding players under the age of 21. Any player born on or after January 1, 2002 such as Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall, do not need to be named in Newcastle's 25-man squad in order to be eligible to play in the Premier League - but they do in the Champions League.

In the Champions League, 17 players can be named in the squad without any restrictions. Then, in order to name more players in their squad, clubs must include up to eight further homegrown players.

Of the eight homegrown players, at least four must be club-trained in order to name a full squad of 25. If a club are unable to fill the homegrown or club-trained player quotas, their squad sizes will be reduced accordingly.

Newcastle's Champions League squad is limited to 24 players due to Elliot Anderson, Paul Dummett and Sean Longstaff being the only senior club-trained players. Champions League squads can still be bolstered by Under-21s players named in a 'List B' which must be submitted to UEFA by midnight the day before the match.

'List B' rules allow players born on or after January 1, 2002 to be named in the squad providing they have been eligible to play for the club for an uninterrupted period of at least two years. With Hall and Livramento joining in the summer, they must be named in the 'List A' squad in order to be eligible to play in the Champions League.

Miley, Parkinson, Ndiweni and Huntley have been named in Newcastle's 'List B' for the match as they are Under-21s players who have been eligible to play for the club for an uninterrupted period of at least two years. But more recent Under-21s recruits such as Amadou Diallo and Alex Murphy can't be included having joined from West Ham United and Galway United respectively last season.

Both Diallo and Murphy made their Premier League debuts for Newcastle after coming off the bench in the 4-1 win over Chelsea at St James' Park on Saturday. The rules also deny recent academy arrivals such as Cathal Heffernan and Charlie McArthur from being eligible for Newcastle's senior Champions League squad.

In addition to the youngsters, Newcastle first-team players Matt Ritchie, Emil Krafth and Javier Manquillo can't feature having not been named in the 24-man Champions League squad. Goalkeeper Mark Gillespie has also not been named but has travelled over to Paris for the match.

After omitting the four players from Newcastle’s Champions League squad, Howe told The Gazette: “Very difficult [decisions]. It was a difficult situation for me and the club to be in really where we had to leave players out of the squad and we don’t want to leave anyone out.

“It was a reward for the whole squad last year and we had to make some very tough calls because of the rules and regulations that the Champions League put in place. They weren’t easy conversations but ones I had to make."