The England international was one of a number of Palace players who saw plenty of the ball in the Fredrikstad half at Selhurst Park in a first leg in which the Eagles dominated possession and chances against the Norwegians’ low block, scoring once and hitting the post twice.
With a 1-0 win to take to Fredrikstad Stadion for the second leg, Wharton told Palace TV: “It was difficult. Obviously, they've got a gameplan, try and stay compact, make it difficult for us to play through them and create chances. They limited our chances, but we created a few and then we got the goal, which ultimately decides the game.
“We're happy with the 1-0 win. Obviously, there's a lot to work on to create more chances, because in this competition I think there's going to be a lot of games like that where teams try and stay compact, be hard to beat. It's a game for us to learn from, but we take it into next week.
“I think in these games if you don't score in the first five or 10 minutes, then you're almost always waiting for the goal. When we got in at half-time, it was just ‘keep doing the same things, keep creating chances and eventually there's going to be a gap or we'll get that half a yard to get the shot’.
“JP [Mateta] took the goal very well. We're happy with the win, but like I said, it's just one of them. You've got to keep working and eventually you'll get the goal.”
