The Eagles went toe-to-toe with Newcastle United at St. James’ Park for long stretches of Sunday afternoon’s contest, creating a handful of good opportunities, but ultimately suffered a fourth defeat in our last five matches following two late concessions from set-pieces.
Wharton told Premier League Productions: “It’s disappointing. I think we had some good moments in the game. For the most part we played really well, the tactics were working.
“But yeah, it's what we've been struggling with recently, set-plays, conceding too many and that's why we've lost today – because of set-plays.
“I think we've just got to be aggressive and obviously we'll work on it, work on the shape and how we defend the set-plays. But yeah, I think it's just trying to win that first contact and if we can do that, then it significantly reduces the chance of them scoring.
“It’s frustrating because obviously it's a massive part of the game, especially this season. We're just conceding too many at the minute and it's what's costing us points in games. The actual football part, I think we're doing pretty well.
“Like I say, [set-pieces are] such a big part of the game now and if you're not good enough then you're going to be punished for it, and we aren’t at the moment.”
On Palace’s recent form, Wharton added: “It’s obviously not what we want. It's frustrating and disappointing.
“We're going through a tough period and all the teams go through that at some point in the season. We're obviously pretty short on players at the minute, with a few injuries and people away, so that's difficult as well.
“We've had a lot of games in a short period of time, so I think we've got two more within three days of each other or something like that, and then I think it goes a bit back to weekly.
“We’re just trying to graft through and get through the tough moment that we're in. Because with the football side of it, we're not actually playing terrible, I don't think it's as worrying as it may seem.”