Valerien Ismael on showing his angry side at Barnsley FC

After a long day's work which saw his side head back from South Wales with nothing to show for their efforts in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, the Frenchman cut a disappointed figure on the trip back to Yorkshire following the first defeat of his Oakwell tenure - and an emphatic one at that.

Ismael said: "For sure, I am a winner and I want to win all the time and when you lose, it is not a good feeling because you don't drive five hours from Barnsley to Cardiff and stay all the day in the hotel and to lose the game after.

"You want the team to win the game. But it is normal, I have to look forward and also as a coach, if my team gives 100 per cent on the pitch, I have to show the guys that I am already on line with them."

Ismael is seeking better fortune in tomorrow's test at Derby - and is reading nothing into the fact that opposite number Philip Cocu will be absent from the touchline as he isolates for a period of 14 days after the club announced chief executive Stephen Pearce has tested positive for coronavirus.

The Rams released a statement late on Thursday night to confirm that Pearce had contracted Covid, but revealed he had held meetings with Cocu and chairman Mel Morris earlier in the day.

While the club said Pearce was asymptomatic, Cocu and Morris will now self-isolate as a precaution.

It follows the absence of Millwall boss Gary Rowett from his side's home game with Barnsley just under a fortnight ago due to a positive Coronavirus test.

Ismael said: "I focus on Barnsley and not Derby and I have to prepare the team and how it lines up tactically. This team is flexible and has a lot of quality and a lot of individual players who can make a differece in any situation. That is my focus of my staff and team."