Jamie Smith opens up on Darren Moore's condition after Sheffield Wednesday boss is hit with second Covid bout

The 57-year-old watched the game from home and was in constant communication with the bench having tested positive for Covid-19 and is undertaking a period of isolation.

He watched goals from George Byers and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing hand Wednesday their third home win on the spin, between which Sam Hutchinson plucked out back-to-back headers off the line to keep Wednesday’s lead intact.

But thoughts at Hillsborough were partly with the Owls boss. An asthma sufferer, Moore suffered from well publicised issues with coronavirus previously and was hospitalised not long after his first weeks as Wednesday boss back in March last year.

While appropriate caution is being taken, he is understood to be in a much more positive condition as things stand.

The Star understands Moore returned a positive test for Covid-19 on Monday and that he worked the latter stages of the January transfer window deadline day remotely. It is not believed to have had any impact on any possible deals.

As was the case when Moore contracted the virus last season, assistant manager Jamie Smith will take over to lead Wednesday in his absence. Asked about Moore’s condition, Smith intimated there is far less concern than the last time he contracted with the virus.

“He’s fine at the minute. He’s got a bit of a sore throat but was in constant contact throughout the game and was delighted with the win. It’s nothing that will keep him away from any Zoom meetings or anything.”

Current isolation rules put in place by the Government say it is now possible to end self-isolation after five full days if a person is able to return two negative LFD tests taken on consecutive days.

Depending on the circumstances of when any minor symptoms started and so on, it may well mean that Moore also misses the weekend’s trip to Burton Albion and could even miss next week’s visit of Rotherham United.

But Smith remained positive and hopeful of a speedy return. “Hopefully he’ll be back,” he said. “He’ll be sticking with the protocols and we’re hoping he might be able to come back from the weekend.”