Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was livid with Wigan’s time-wasting antics. He said they cheated.
Speaking about the incident when Lee McCulloch went to the ground for several seconds holding his left ankle as if injured from a challenge, before getting up to continue play, Mourinho said: “I told William Gallas not to give the ball back - it was my responsibility, and I would do it again.
“We know fairplay, but we also know when we are being cheated, we are not stupid.
“Fairplay is not cheating.
“I am certain McCulloch was not injured and the bench were certain also.
“I know the country where I work, and I defend my players from others who are cheating.
“My players do not cheat, they do not pretend they are injured - in fact in John Terry and Damien Duff, they tell me they are not injured even if they are, they never want to come off the pitch.
"I have a team who respect fairplay.
"Five minutes after that incident we kicked the ball out when one of their players was injured.
“Paul Jewel and Wigan are doing well, They are not picking up points because they are playing the best teams now. But they should not run away from this.
“My room is open for Paul Jewel to come in and tell me what he thinks and not the media, but perhaps he is trying to deflect attention away from the defeat.”
“John Terry is an inspirtation and his goals are vital.
"We had six players whom played well today and John was one of them. That is good for Chelsea and good for England.”
Paul Jewel is of the opinion his side could have got something from the game: “At one stage, I thought we would get a draw,“ said the Wigan boss.
“But we lost to a set-play.
“We looked solid, we were up against it but Chelsea were unsporting to not give the ball back (when McCulloch) was injured. The unsporting act was disappointing. They have world-class players and don’t mind scrapping for one-nil wins either. I have lots of admiration for them.
“We have got many games coming up and I don’t have the luxury of changing the squad too much.
“But we looked like a team today, unlike last week against Liverpool.
“But we are still learning. We lost due to a lack of concentration.
I don’t mind losing to a wonder goal but we gifted them and that was hard to take."