Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore fighting on the frontline

The Owls manager missed three games after the international break with a debilitating bout of the virus and by the time he was back in the dugout, first-team coach Williams was in isolation.

Like Moore, Williams suffered badly for a while but is expected back at Middlewood Road later this week.

Moore’s predecessors have spoken about mental fragility amongst the relegation-bound squad and it reared its head again on Tuesday, when they went behind to Swansea City. They were the better side for the opening half-hour but have not picked up a single point after conceding first this season, and appeared acutely aware of it once Jamal Lowe found the net.

“It’s a mindset and a temperament and a desire in terms of changing that,” said Moore. “You’ve got to break that cycle.

“Hopefully from now until the end of the season we don’t go behind but if we do we have to continue doing the right things.

“People can think everything’s gone against us but I’m not one to accept that.

“The glass is half-full because Saturday is the next opportunity to put it right, and that’s what I’ll tell the players. We can’t sit back and just accept where we are.”

Moore explained: “Paul Williams is suffering from some Covid as well. When I went down with mine, two days later he went down with his.

“Would I ever thought I would get it? No chance. When it did come I was shocked and I was really sick with it for five or six days.

“I was disappointed to have got it at the time. I wish I’d got it when we were on the international break and then I wouldn’t have missed any games but I’m just grateful to be back in and hopefully I stay away from it for the foreseeable future.

“I was really pleased to get back and I felt better being at Hillsborough than isolating at home because you’re on the frontline with the players fighting tooth and nail to get results. We’ve got to build on the times we went toe to toe with Swansea, a really good team in this division.”

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