Paul Warne admits it will be ‘surreal’ taking charge of Rotherham against his beloved Norwich City from home, after going into a period of self-isolation following a positive coronavirus test result for a member of his family.

Warne misses out on the latest reunion with the club he supports, but will be in close contact with his coaching staff.

“Obviously not being there isn’t ideal, but I have a lot of trust in my staff,” he said. “It is surreal playing Norwich without a crowd in and obviously without being in the dugout, but it’s all about the lads, not about me. We want to get them to a level where they can give Norwich a good game.

“I’m looking forward to it and it should be a really good test.

“Norwich were a Premier League team just a few months ago, so we’re well aware of the enormity of the challenge, but I have full belief in the lads that we can go toe-to-toe with them and if we take our chances we’ll have a great chance.

“We are going to be tested to the absolute limit against Norwich.

“I’ll obviously be watching it on ifollow and having a live link from the bench. It’ll be quite good, I think if I wasn’t so vocal on the side of the pitch I’d quite like to manage from higher up.

“You get a great angle of the game and probably get a different perception to ground level.”

Warne has still been able to oversee Rotherham’s preparations this week with the use of video technology.

“It was a bit of a shock last week when we got the text to say that someone had tested positive,” he said. “I’m lucky that I’ve covered myself with many great coaches, so delegation isn’t a problem for me because I know they will be prepared. “They’ve kindly filmed training for me, which is weird because my days get flipped around.

“At the minute they are getting harder as they go on, while usually the intensity is in the morning.

“I’ve been getting the footage around 2pm, so I watch it studiously.

“Afterwards, I’ve been reaching out to players who have done well, as well as having Zoom conversations with the coaches on what I’ve seen and to gauge their opinions.

“I’m speaking to my coaches every day and discussing what we are doing in each session.”