Norwich City v Rotherham United – Paul Warne prepared for emotional visit to Carrow Road

Warne and his father were Norwich City fans and this will be the first time he has been present to manage a team against them since Russell died in the summer of 2019.

The clubs were two divisions apart last season and Warne was in Covid-19 isolation when Daniel Farke’s team came to the New York Stadium in October so fate has decreed their first meeting since Russell’s death will be at a virtually empty Carrow Road.

“It won’t be the same, it will be a bit strange,” admits Warne.

“I got Covid tested last week and my first test was inconclusive. I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to be positive for Norwich away and I missed Norwich at home. It would have been sick.

“It will be a bit surreal managing a team at Carrow Road with no crowd.

“I am emotional when I go to Norwich anyway so I don’t know if I will feel more emotional. I can’t explain it – going into a church that’s completely empty feels more spiritual to me than it does if there’s 100 people in it.

“If I manage a team at Norwich there’s not a chance I won’t think about my father, not a chance.

“I just hope we can perform because I honestly think Norwich are still the best team in the league and they can cause you all sorts of problems.

“I have played a cup final at Carrow Road in front of 3,000 people but at the time I thought that was a lot of people in my non-league halcyon days. To have virtually no one there will feel odd but hopefully less intimidating for the team, which is crucial.”

Rotherham played well at Bournemouth on Wednesday but started a run of tough fixtures with a 1-0 defeat. Facing a second long away trip in half a week, Warne plans to freshen his team.

“We’ll probably have to make some changes because we cannot put that amount of effort in, game upon game upon game,” he said. “As much as I want the lads to do it, we can’t.

“Norwich is a big ground when you don’t get the ball, so we need a good plan. Away at Norwich is probably the hardest place to go on the back of a really physically draining game at Bournemouth.”

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