Huddersfield boss Danny Cowley said he would take no satisfaction in his side avoiding relegation because Wigan have gone into administration.
Latics are currently six points clear of the drop zone but face a 12-point deduction that will come into force this season if they finish outside the bottom three.
If Wigan finish in the relegation zone, however, the sanction will be applied in League One at the start of next season.
Cowley, whose side sit two points above the drop zone after Saturday’s 0-0 home draw against Preston, said: “Our focus is just on us. I feel terribly sorry for the people of Wigan, the staff, the players and particularly the supporters.
“I love football. I’m a football supporter myself and I don’t like to see what’s happening to them happen in football.
“We want to do it on our own merit. I’ll take no pride or feeling of content if we stay up by virtue of another team going into administration.
“I want to do it on merit because that’s what I set out to do when I came in.”
Huddersfield created one scoring chance against Preston, who fared little better, with substitute Scott Sinclair squandering their best opportunity in time added on.
“It wasn’t one for the purists,” Cowley added. “But when you don’t play well you have to keep the back door closed and we did that very well.”
Preston boss Alex Neil was not thrilled with his side’s performance, despite getting the clean sheet they had come for.
Sinclair dragged a shot wide following fellow substitute Sean Maguire’s flick-on in stoppage time before Maguire fired into the side-netting.
Neil said: “I don’t think there was a lot created in the game. I can’t remember a shot that they did anything with.
“We wanted to make sure we were hard to beat and we wanted a clean sheet.
“We had those two chances at the end there, but unfortunately we didn’t get ourselves set enough to hit the target.
“I’m not over the moon with the performance. We wanted that clean sheet, but we need to find a better balance and do more in the final third if we are to challenge higher up.”
