Losing to Swansea is always going to hurt, and the manner of the defeat made it feel even worse. The loss illustrated an area which we need to address as we look to get back on track.

The headline was Arthur Okonkwo’s horrible moment in the ninetieth minute, but that shouldn’t be the concern. Everyone makes the odd mistake, and Okonkwo has more than earned the right to a little understanding with his consistent excellence since he joined us.

Instead, there’s been a shift in our ability to withstand pressure and turn the tables on our opponents which makes getting through the next few weeks crucial.

We miss the wing-back combination of Issa Kabore and Liberato Cacace. That’s really not a comment on the options we still have available to us in wide positions. Ryan Barnett, Ryan Longman and James McClean are all valuable players at this level. However, the simultaneous absence of Kabore and Cacace is an issue. They’re both very high level players, and losing such pace and quality on the ball on both flanks has hurt us.

Admittedly, we haven’t seen enough of them together as injuries have hampered them both. However, in the five games when they have both appeared, we have only lost one: the unfortunate 1-0 defeat at Stoke which was decided by Sorba Thomas’ cross going straight in.

My point, though, is that losing both of them is a major blow. The numbers back that up emphatically: we average over a point more in league games where one of them has featured compared to those where neither of them played.

That’s an enormous difference, and I think it’s most clearly illustrated when we defend. Having the outlet of one, or both, of Kabore and Cacace gives us an outlet. We’re always a threat on the break with one of them around, whether it’s through Kabore’s raw pace or Cacace’s intelligent passing and movement.

Think back to games at Leicester and Middlesbrough, where we were forced to defend for a lot of the game but emerged with well-earned points.

In both those games held the home teams at arm’s length, partly because Cacace and Kabore offer relief from the pressure. Quite apart from their counter-attacking threat, they give us an outlet which buys the centre backs a breather and gives our defensive unit a chance to step out and re-organise.

Our defending in the mid-block has been superb this season, and at places like The Riverside, Fratton Park and the King Power Stadium, we’ve mostly restricted strong attacking sides to shots from outside the penalty area.

Without the release they offer, we’ve looked a little more vulnerable at the back as the constant grind of withstanding attacks takes its toll.

After a lengthy and well-deserved unbeaten run, we’ve been beaten in the rad in our last two away games, and it’s surely not a coincidence that we’ve lacked the two players who are most effective on transition.

That means we are sometimes driven to defend deeper than we wish and means players having to look to deal with more dangerous situations. That led to Swansea’s winner on Friday in a game which clearly saw us struggle to get into their half after the first half hour.

Surely, Okonkwo is guaranteed a warm reception at the SToK Cae Ras on Boxing Day. You would have to be particularly unreasonable to hold a mistake, even a match-losing one like Arthur’s, against a man who has been absolutely outstanding this season.

He is clearly in credit when we weigh the points he has protected for us against the two he dropped on Friday.

There seems to have been criticism of his decision to come to the edge of the area to punch the incoming free kick away, leading to the ball being cushioned back into the goalmouth by Ben Cabango to set up the mishandling which led to the goal. I can’t understand that. Okonkwo was doing what any defender would want him to do: take advantage of his physical characteristics and look to relieve pressure on the back three by dealing with everything he can.

There seems to be a notion that goalkeepers should stay in their goalmouth and not stray into the extremities of their penalty area. The reality is the opposite. If a goalkeeper can command the penalty box, and with the height, speed and wingspan of Okonkwo, he has the attributes to do exactly that.

The problem wasn’t with his decision-making at all. It was that he slightly misjudged the punch. That’s all it takes for the ball to not go where you want it to. Elite sport is decided by fine margins.

Obviously, I don’t want us to surrender early chances in any game, but I really wouldn’t mind if Sheffield United get an early opportunity to test Okonkwo at the start of Friday’s match. If he can get a save under his belt early on, it will surely help him to forget what happened on Friday, and get on with the project he embarked on which is going so well: bossing the Championship.

When we get our full range of wing-back options back too, we can then get back to normal business and give some more big clubs a hard time.