The Palace right-back explained that he felt the Eagles were capable of a better performance despite the calibre of their opposition and expressed his disappointment with conceding so early.
"It’s tough," he told Premier League Productions. "When you go down that early on against a side like that it’s always going to be a mountain to climb. I think it was a little too late by the time we started playing the [same] football we did [against Everton].
"It’s frustrating to concede the goals we did. We pride ourselves on being a team that will fight and limit chances and today we really gave them the early goals."
Ward went on to explain how Palace tried to react to being two goals down after 10 minutes, saying: "We tried to adapt to give ourselves a foothold in the game. They had some wind in their tails and that was our own doing.
"We have to try to find some positives – in the second-half there were a few glimpses of what we’re about, Christian [Benteke] up-top deserved his goal and when Jeff [Schlupp] came on he changed the game.
"We dust ourselves down, we go again. There’s never an easy game in the Premier League. Look at the performance against Everton, look at this performance; they’re very different. One week to another, the Premier League is a battle. We’ll take the break now, come back fighting and make sure we try to put things right as soon as possible."
Asked to elaborate on the impact Schlupp had when substituted on by Roy Hodgson - the Ghanaian assisted Benteke's goal just minutes after taking to the pitch - Ward was keen to praise his teammate:
"Jeff’s got an enormous amount of gifts. He’s a tremendous player and a joy to play with and I think when he comes on and gets direct and starts to drive at players you see his quality shine through.
"On the ball and his final balls were on the money today and were against Everton as well. The depth of the squad is strong and when players like Jeff come onto the pitch you know he’s going to have an impact and that’s what he did at times to give the team a lift."
Stay tuned for highlights and post-match reaction from this clash on Palace TV. Keep an eye out by clicking here or 'Palace TV' within the app.
