The Eagles went into the match off the back of three consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League, but found themselves a goal down – albeit to a stroke of misfortune – inside five minutes following Jacob Murphy’s inadvertent looping finish.
Newcastle went on to dominate the remainder of the half, however, and eventually took the game out of sight, with Ward admitting: “I think we all know we can do better and we need to do better.
“We were outclassed today, but it's about how we bounce back from that. In tough times, it's how you respond, and we've got to put that right on Friday night against Tottenham.”
On Murphy’s early goal, Ward admitted: “I mean obviously it wasn’t the ideal start in a place like this [St James’ Park]. It's always going to be tough.
“The fans are going to get behind them, and they're a strong outfit who are going to cause you problems, but I don't think we dealt with that like we know we can do.