HE might be in strict isolation after testing positive for coronavirus, but Neil Warnock will still be overseeing Middlesbrough’s home game against Bournemouth tomorrow afternoon - via a Zoom call on his laptop.

While Kevin Blackwell and Ronnie Jepson run things from the technical area at the Riverside, on an afternoon when 1,000 supporters will be in attendance as part of an EFL pilot, Warnock will be closeted away in his home close to Boro’s training ground in Hurworth.

The 71-year-old is in good spirits despite contracting Covid-19, and will be speaking to some of his players on an individual basis in the build-up to kick-off.

He will watch the action on a live feed once the game begins, and will be in constant contact with Blackwell and Jepson to discuss substitutions and tactics.

“Neil is fine,” said Blackwell, Boro’s assistant boss. “That’s probably the frustrating thing for everybody. He’s fine. We wish him all the best and want him to get well as quick as he can. To be honest, if it was normal flu, he’d be back to work tomorrow. But clearly we follow all the protocols, and it’s quite right to do so.

“But the beauty of modern technology – Zoom and things like that – is that we can actually speak to Neil and be in constant contact with him, while the game is going on. We will do that. We will be using the technology to our advantage.

“He’ll be watching from his house, and he has everything set up in terms of the technology for him to be able to watch the game and communicate directly to the ground. It’s marvellous what technology can do now – gone are the days when he might have had to be at home and we wouldn’t have seen him for 14 days. We’re seeing him every day (remotely) and the whole thing is running very well.”

An unnamed Middlesbrough player is also in isolation after recording a positive test, although they are understood to have contracted Covid prior to the game at Watford and should be able to return to training next week.

Blackwell and the rest of Boro’s matchday coaching staff have recorded negative tests this week, and while EFL regulations no longer require Championship clubs to conduct weekly tests as a matter of routine, the experienced assistant is adamant the Teessiders could not be doing any more to prevent infection.

“We’ve got two club doctors here, and they’ve been very stringent with everything we’ve done since we’ve been back,” he said. “We follow everything they tell us to do. You can’t walk into this club without protection and following the protocols that the club and the doctor have set down.

“People are wary of it. We’ve obviously talked about it, because we’re close to the area in the North-East that has now been curfewed. The doctor is constantly saying, ‘Be aware, wash your hands, social distance’ – keep doing the things the Government and all the people who are important say you should do. We are following that, and it is constantly being rammed home. There are enough notices around here – you can’t walk without seeing a sign of Covid this or Covid that.”

Attention now switches to tomororow’s game, and despite this week’s disruptions, Blackwell is confident his players will be fully focused on the job in hand once they walk out onto the pitch.

“There’s no doubt that, when the lads come into training, things have changed,” he said. “They don’t necessarily have showers before going home anymore. Sometimes, they don’t eat here anymore. Things have changed, and they can feel that, but once they get to work, anything on your mind goes out of it and you concentrate on your training and the games.”