Tearing his hair out

AVRAM GRANT has remained steadfast in his conviction that his side’s standards must not be allowed to drop despite the uncertainty surrounding the club’s future but even the manager’s defiant stand showed signs of weakening after the most painful of defeats.

Denied an early goal because of an incorrect offside decision before Frederic Piquionne finally put them ahead, Pompey saw a point slip from their grasp when Salif Diao struck the winning goal – the midfielder’s first in the Premier League since a rare strike for Liverpool in 2002 – well into added time after Robert Huth had equalised.

In regular circumstances, the manner of this loss would be devastating. But to a manager and squad who do not know whether they will even be in gainful employment after March 1, the date the High Court will determine the outcome of the winding-up petition served by the taxman, it was just about as bad as it gets.