Avram Grant refused to concede the Barclays Premier League title after Chelsea’s dramatic 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic last night, while admitting that they must beat Everton on Thursday to maintain their slim hopes of overhauling Manchester United.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side have a five-point lead and vastly superior goal difference with only four matches remaining after Emile Heskey’s stunning intervention in injury time, when he volleyed an equaliser on his 400th Premier League appearance. Michael Essien had given Chelsea the lead midway through the second half.

Grant remains furious that Chelsea must travel to Merseyside for another midweek match, but did not stoop to blaming fixture congestion for his side’s slide. “We’re still in it and will keep on fighting,” he said. “We need one more bad result from Manchester United, but this result did not help us.

“The players still believe they can do it. We need to win the games against Everton and Manchester United and need a bad result from them. This hasn’t changed so much.”

The Chelsea fans appear less convinced, angrily turning on their manager at the final whistle having already booed the team off after a goalless first half, reflecting both their own impatience and the high standards that have been set at the club in recent years.

Grant was hindered by the unavailability of Didier Drogba because of a knee injury and the late withdrawal of Frank Lampard as a result of a family illness, although he also made five unforced changes that contributed to a lacklustre performance, despite his claims to the contrary.

“I change players all the time as we’re at the end of the season with many games and the team are playing more than they used to,” Grant said. “I tried to keep them fresh as we have a big squad. It’s not the first time we have played with this team. The second half was one of our best performances of the season. We created chances every three or four minutes and their goalkeeper gave an excellent performance.

“When you play good football you need to score the second goal. The fans were OK. They didn’t like the first half, which I understand, but they have to respect the football we played in the second.

“If we played like this all the time, it would be good, but it’s happened to us too many times. We play good football and create good chances but don’t use them. If we had used 10 per cent of the chances today we’d have been leading 3-0 or 4-0. We played so good in the second half and this is the football everybody wants to see.”

Steve Bruce celebrated as if Wigan had won the title themselves, although after moving six points clear of third-bottom they need only one more win to ensure Premier League football next season.

The Wigan manager was more than aware of the significance of this result at the other end of the table, with friends from his former club pestering him immediately after the final whistle. “The phone in my pocket is going off with friends from Manchester, but I’m more pleased for my players, especially after the results below us at the weekend,” Bruce said. “I’ve had four phone calls from Sir Alex in two months, two before we played Chelsea and two before we played Arsenal.”