Grant: Portsmouth need to know on points deduction

The south coast strugglers suffered another blow in their uphill struggle for survival as they went down 2-1 at home to Birmingham at Fratton Park on Tuesday night.

Despite a stoppage-time header from substitute Kanu, a first-half brace from Blues striker Cameron Jerome was enough to give his side revenge for their FA Cup loss on this ground last Saturday.

This result leaves Pompey five points from safety and they stand to drop another nine behind should the Premier League impose a nine-point penalty following the club's plunge into administration.

Administrator Andrew Andronikou has pledged to fight the rule, which has never been tested as no top flight club has ever suffered this fate.

But Grant admitted his team would like to know for definite how many points they would have to claw back if they were to avoid relegation.

He said: "I still believe that this needs to be decided on the pitch and we'll see how we get on.

"We can still do it, but we need to know for sure what will happen. We can't just keep reading in the papers every day that we are nine points down.

"Of course it affects the players, but when they come to the pitch, they are trying everything they can do to win the games."

While Pompey have been at the bottom of the table and favourites for the drop virtually all season, Grant said he hoped his side's fall into the Championship would not be settled by a decision in the Premier League boardroom.

He added: "For me, there is only one decision.

"I always respect the rules and we need to respect the rules. But I've said it a hundred times and I'll say it again, football decisions should be settled on the pitch.

"It's not good for the Premier League that a team could be relegated because of a decision that was made off the pitch.

"This is especially because the victims will be the people who didn't do anything wrong here like the fans and the players."