This is a long-term change Steve Bruce must resist at Newcastle United

Hayden, after all, rarely has a bad game for the club, which is 12th in the Premier League ahead of Wednesday night's game against Leeds United at Elland Road.

Steve Bruce – who fielded the midfielder in defence in Saturday’s 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion – wants more consistency from his team this season - and Hayden has been a model of consistency since arriving at St James’s Park.

Hayden, signed from Arsenal in 2016, put in a faultless performance for Newcastle after recovering from a Covid-19 infection which had hit him hard.

"I was in bed for 10 days – and couldn't do anything," he told NUFC TV. "I had it quite bad, so to have two or three days training, and then play a game in the Premier League wasn't easy, but the lads stuck to it and came through with the three points."

If Hayden, a fierce competitor, good character and intelligent footballer, was tired, he didn’t show it.

That didn’t surprise Bruce, who had Hayden on loan at Hull City in the 2015/16 season.

“I didn’t think I’d have him until last Monday, so for him to get out of bed and produce a performance like that was great to see,” said United’s head coach. “Isaac was in bed for 10 days. You can be negative, but the fatigue’s key to it – and the magnitude and the way it ripped through everybody was frightening.”

Certainly, the way Covid-19 laid low a 25-year-old professional athlete is a warning for anyone who isn’t taking seriously the threat to health posed by coronavirus, and we can only hope that the players and staff still affected by Covid-19 quickly return to good health.

Of course, Hayden’s performance at centre-half led to some calls for a permanent switch.

It’s a position Hayden, signed as a specialist midfielder by Rafa Benitez, Bruce’s predecessor, knows well from Arsenal and Hull.

However, for me, Hayden is just too important in midfield for a club which has strength in depth in central defence.

And defender Federico Fernandez – who revealed yesterday that he’s also recovered from Covid-19 – should be recalled as soon as he’s ready to return.

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