The man who gifted Albion their last home point admits he is surprised he has Covid-19.

Adrian Mariappa has revealed he was the Watford player who tested positive.

His club had already confirmed three of the six positives out of 748 tests in the Premier League involved their employees, two of them being non-playing staff.

Burnley assistant boss Ian Woan was also positive but Mariappa was the first player from the tests confirmed as having the virus.

Albion fans will recall him scoring an own goal when Watford drew 1-1 in the penultimate match at the Amex before action was halted due to the virus.

Mariappa said: “Apart from some exercise and the odd walk with the kids, I’ve mainly just been home-schooling and keeping fit.

“My lifestyle is very quiet, certainly no parties or going out or anything, so I really don’t know how I got it.”

The nature of the Jamaica defender’s positive test offered another twist to a week which has seen debate over Project Restart hot up as teams return to training.

His team-mate and close friend Troy Deeney has refused to return to training due to health concerns involving his five-month-old son.

Those worries will not have been eased by the fact Mariappa and Woan said they were feeling fine when testing positive.

Mariappa said: “It’s quite scary how you can feel absolutely fine and not really have left the house, and yet still get the virus.

“If it wasn’t for the fact I had gone back to training and had this test, then I’d never have found out that I had the virus and I would just be getting on with things as normal. That’s obviously quite a strange thought.”

Albion are expected to update on their return to training tomorrow as they continue to study details of stage two of training, which will involve full contact.

They are working to ensure the club as a whole is ready for a possible return to playing behind closed doors next month if it is as safe as possible for players and staff.