Carlos Corberan is waiting for green light at Huddersfield Town

Instead of being with his staff and players at Derby County, the young Huddersfield Town supremo had to watch events unfold from his home in Yorkshire – after testing positive for Covid-19 last week.

The Spaniard will find out today if he can return to the dug-out for the club’s Championship home game with Fulham tomorrow, his tenth day of isolation.

While naturally hopeful that he will be – most especially given the fact that the game would signify his first home match in charge of Huddersfield with fans in attendance since he joined the club almost 13 months ago – Corberan will, perhaps surprisingly, stay calm if he does not.

He said: “I would have to say that I missed our fans, more than I (personally) missed being there the other day. The time we have been without the fans has been too long – longer than one week.

“It is true when you do not have something, you miss the situation a lot. I hope to be there on Saturday and if not, I hope that I can be there on Tuesday.

“Sometimes, you have moments when you’re suffering and others which you enjoy. It (last Saturday) was something a little bit strange – you are not in a stadium, but feel part of the game.

“You try to manage the emotions to help you analyse the situation to allow you make the best decision.

“It’s my job to make the best decisions over 90 minutes.”

The 38-year-old had input from afar last week, with Town in the capable hands of Danny Schofield, Chicho Pelach and Jorge Alarcon in his absence in the East Midlands.

Things ran relatively smoothly without Corberan, although the slight time lag between the real time action at Pride Park and the video footage made things challenging for him at times.

He added: “I was in contact during all the game because nowadays, you can be in full communication.

“Sometimes when I am on the bench, I ask my staff not to sit with me as sometimes I want to be more concentrated when I watch.

“I like (it) that all my staff have enough knowledge to deliver some instructions and it allows me to be more focused to take some ideas and really understand what is happening.

“Being honest, I know it is difficult to sometimes understand it, but I did not find many changes with a normal game, only the fact that I was watching the game one minute behind our staff. But I was in full communication.”

Meanwhile, chief executive Mark Devlin has confirmed that the club have turned down two bids from an unnamed club for midfielder Lewis O’Brien – a target of West Yorkshire neighbours Leeds United.

O’Brien, who recently tested positive for Covid-19, is likely to make his return in Tuesday’s home game with Preston after three days of individual work under medical protocols.

Intense speculation continues to rage over his future, with Leeds keen to sign the 22-year-old, whose deal expires next summer.

Speaking on the club’s website, he said: “The transfer window is still open, and it is still possible that players can leave and arrive before the end of August.

“There has been a lot of speculation surrounding Lewis O’Brien’s future, in particular, and I can confirm we have received and rejected two transfer offers for him.

“We respect every player’s desire to test themselves at the highest possible level, but equally any transfer must be right for Huddersfield Town, both in terms of value and timing.

“We will do our best to keep supporters informed as the window reaches its conclusion.”

Speaking about the situation with O’Brien at his pre-match press conference, Carlos Corberan commented: “I cannot be thinking now about (speculation) on O’Brien because O’Brien is with us. Now, unfortunately, we don’t have him working with the team because we know he has had Covid.

“I think he is going to be one of the first players to adapt and come back again with the team and to the normal level. 

With due respect to the majority of Town’s other players, replacing O’Brien would represent a hugely difficult task for Corberan and it is something that the head coach, while loath to speak about the midfielder’s future, fully appreciates.

Corberan said: “I know how important he is as a player. I know what O’Brien brings from the physical point of view and on the ball and I know how difficult it is to find one player that does the same as him in every game. 

“As every time I look at his GPS values, he is one player that every two days is able to achieve more than 1,500 high-intensity metres – something that is not usual in any player. I never had the experience to see these values before in my life.