EDDIE HOWE has rued the rule change which means Manchester City signing Antoine Semenyo can line up against Newcastle in the League Cup semi-final tonight.

The 26-year-old Ghana international, who joined City from Bournemouth last week, is available to face the Magpies in tonight’s first leg at St James’ Park despite having already played as a substitute in the Cherries’ 2-0 second round defeat by Brentford in August.

Semenyo, who scored on his debut in Saturday’s 10-1 FA Cup demolition of Exeter, is able to do so under the newly introduced EFL rule 6.4, which allows a player to represent up to two clubs in the competition in a season.

Asked for his opinion of the change, Magpies head coach Howe said with a wry smile: “Yeah, it was nice to find out that rule had changed after finding out they’d signed him.

“I have to say that’s one rule change I probably wouldn’t be supportive of at this current moment.

“But Antoine’s had an incredible season. I’m a big admirer of his and he scored on his debut, so fair play to him. I think Man City have signed a very, very good player.”

Whatever side Guardiola fields on Tyneside, Howe knows the challenge of retaining the trophy Newcastle won last season against Liverpool to end their 70-year wait for domestic silverware is as stern as it could be.

However, he insists he cannot allow himself to feel inferior as he goes up against the Spaniard and his star-studded squad.

Guardiola’s glittering managerial career began at Barcelona and continued at Bayern Munich before his arrival at the City of Manchester Stadium, while Howe, who will be without full-back Tino Livramento as he undergoes a scan on his damaged hamstring, cut his teeth in League Two with Bournemouth, eventually leading the club to the Premier League as he learned his trade the hard way.

Asked if he ever allowed himself to reflect upon that journey, Howe, who has got the better of Guardiola and Jose Mourinho already this season, said: “Very rarely, if I’m honest.

“Occasionally someone might send me something that reminds me. It feels like a long time ago, to be honest, where we started.

“But I’ve said so many times, I wouldn’t change that at all. The grounding we had, the education we had in the lower leagues was incredible, really, and going through the leagues has given us a unique insight into the football pyramid.

“We really learned the hard way in terms of successes and failures and eventually, through I think hard work and dedication, we’ve ended up where we are now.

“But then you can’t look at yourself as inferior, you can’t think of your journey, you just have to think of the here and now and you have to think of trying to win.

“That’s all we are trying to do on a daily basis, trying to come out on the right side of things. But our education, I think, has been invaluable to us.”

Guardiola is expecting a tough encounter against the cup holders at St James’ Park.

He said: “Since Eddie Howe took over, so many years now, look how many games they won in the last minutes.

“The pride is there, the crowd pushes. It has always been like that, for a long time, in this stadium. It’s special.

“They’ve done really well for many years. They won it last season and now here they are in the semi-finals again.

“But at the same time it is a semi-final and if we had to play against Arsenal or Chelsea it would be as difficult. It is an opportunity for a lot of us, and especially for a lot of new players, to reach a final.”