Portsmouth’s bench was even weaker with just four substitutes named, among those were teenagers Lenny Sowah and Marlon Pack and a half-fit Hassan Yebda.

Having already fallen foul of Premier League rules earlier this season when the club went into administration, incurring a nine-point deduction, Grant does not want to hear from the authorities again.

“The Premier League need not to say nothing about Portsmouth,” he said.

“They need to give us an award because we are playing as we play with a lot of injuries – it is not ideal for us.

“But what can I do? We have many players who were injured so we used some players from the academy and I was very pleased with them.

“We needed to do it because we have a very small squad. Hassan Yebda was on the bench but even he was not fit and therefore he didn’t play.

“We didn’t even have a reserve goalkeeper on the bench.”

Grant was fortunate goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown not only avoided injury but was also Portsmouth’s best player, being forced to make many more saves than Wigan counterpart Chris Kirkland.

However, only one – tipping a late James McCarthy shot around his post – forced him to produce his best.

“Ashdown did very well. In the last three games we’ve had clean sheets and he has played in two of them,” added Grant.

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez accepted the draw which lifted his side five points above the relegation zone with four matches to go.

“It was one of those tricky performances,” said the Spaniard.

“I knew when I saw the line-up Portsmouth had to play in a different way and they reacted well in adversity.

“They were very organised and got players behind the ball. The disappointing thing is we had a lot of possession and couldn’t take advantage.

“Normally we find the right decision or composure in the last third of the pitch but probably the anxiety and desire to get three points cost us.

“You get into a game where you start playing with your heart and not your head and we didn’t use the quality we have got to work the goalkeeper more.

“We are all disappointed because we couldn’t break a team down.

“But on the other hand I’ve seen it time after time when a team goes down the other end and scores.”