One thing that has been noticeable about Valerien Ismael’s comments to the media after games is that he generally seems to see things during a match in the way the rest of us do.

There’s no bluster, no attempt to defend the indefensible, and he calls it as he sees it.

Such was the case after the 1-1 draw at Cardiff, when he was asked about the defending for the hosts’ goal.

“It was a set piece, it’s too easy and it cannot happen,” he said, sitting back in his chair and rolling his eyes.

“When you’re top of the league you can do what you like, you’re in a flow, everything works.

“But when you are low in the table everything you get wrong will be punished. At the minute we are getting properly punished.

“At Sunderland in midweek it was the same: the first half we gave a strong away performance and then we allowed ourselves to go 1-0 down.

“But we keep fighting, there won’t be panicking and we will stay calm.

“We know that things can change very quickly, especially when you are playing three games a week.

“The break now gives us a chance to refocus and recharge, and we want to do things better when the next block of games start.”

Was the goal another example, though, of zonal marking at set pieces being too easy for opponents to find a way of overcoming?

“The ball was deflected so it wasn’t like it just came straight through our defence,” Ismael said.

“Sometimes these things happen, and it is happening at the moment.

“The most important thing is the reaction, while working to avoid these things in the future.

“We need to stop conceding corners in the first place, make it a bit harder for the opponents to get set plays.

“The main thing was we came back, and we showed the mentality to do that when we had lost three games in a row.

“We went 1-0 down away from home, and we came back. We showed strength in our minds, and that has enabled us to stop the bleeding now.

“Maybe it is more suitable for us at the minute for the team to set up that way and to be strong and solid.”