Rotherham United manager Paul Warne says he understands Newcastle United's decision to temporarily recall midfielder Dan Barlaser from his loan spell with the Millers.

It was confirmed earlier this week that Barlaser had been recalled to his parent club, so that he can self isolate along with the rest of Newcastle's squad amid the Coronavirus outbreak that has seen all football in England halted until at least the end of April.

Explaining the situation that ultimately led to him agreeing to Newcastle's request, Warne told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “They kindly contacted me and said that: ‘look, Newcastle’s policy is this’ and they want everyone to self-isolate and they would appreciate if I understood and allowed Dan to do the same thing.

It does seem as though the decision Warne took to in agreeing for that to happen was in some senses taken with the extended future of his side in mind, as he continued: “It is their player who they kindly loaned to us and if we were fortunate enough to keep him next year, I need to keep those relationships open."

“I could have had some legal wrangling and say: ‘look, I (Rotherham) am paying his wage’, but that is not how really how we work here.

“We want to keep relationships strong with other teams and respect what they want, so we have.”

Since joining Rotherham on a season-long loan back in the summer transfer window, Barlaser has made 35 appearances in competitions for Warne's side, scoring two goals and providing five assists.

Those contributions have helped the Millers to second in the current League One standings, two points clear of the play-off places with nine games of their season still to be played at some point.

The Verdict

I think this is probably a sensible decision from Warne.

It does not really make sense for them to try and keep Barlaser at the club for the time being, due to the issues it would cause.

With no games being played for a considerable time yet, it is not as though they are really missing his services, and their willingness to cooperate with Newcastle here could help them do business with the Magpies in any future transfer windows.

Even so, you feel it would be a nice touch from Newcastle if they would cover Barlaser's wages for the period he is back with them, given their size and status means that from a financial perspective, it ought to be easier for them to do that than Rotherham.