'He'd run through a brick wall for his team-mates' - Portsmouth's former Norwich defender Sean Raggett backed by skipper amid fan flak
Tom Naylor jumped to the defence of Sean Raggett amid the fan flak he’s faced and declared: he’d run through a brick wall for us.
The Pompey centre-back has gained his detractors among sections of the Fratton faithful in recent weeks.
That’s despite Raggett being an ever-present as the Blues sit sixth in the League One table.
The former Norwich defender’s block allowed Ipswich’s Jon Nolan to score in Pompey’s 3-2 win at the Tractor Boys in the FA Cup earlier in the month.
Then, on Monday, Raggett turned into his own net when trying to clear Frank Nouble’s cross-shot in the 2-2 draw at Plymouth.
Having scored a similar own goal at Burton in October, Naylor had sympathy for Raggett.
With Argyle striker Ryan Hardie lurking in behind, the skipper knew there wasn't much else his team-mate could have done in that situation.
And Naylor is adamant Raggett will continue to give his all and bounce back.
‘There's not much you can do there – that's the thing,’ said Naylor.
‘We probably should have done better for the first goal at Plymouth, should have cleared it a lot better.
‘Raggs can't do much about it. He's tried to block it, the ball’s gone over his foot and over Craig (MacGillivray) in goal where he can't do anything about it.
‘I scored a similar own goal at Burton. You can't really get out of the way, you try to block it the best you can. When it doesn't fall for you, it doesn't fall for you.
‘Sean's a defender at the end of the day and he has been solid. An old-school defender is what you can call him.
‘When we've also got Whaty (Jack Whatmough) and Rasmus (Nicolaisen), there is good back-up.
‘Raggs will fight for everyone. He will run through a brick wall for his team-mates and fair play to him.’
Raggett moved to Pompey from Norwich on a season-long loan in July 2019.
He scored two goals in 38 appearances last term as the Blues suffered play-off semi-final penalty shootout defeat to Oxford United.
However, he impressed enough to win a permanent deal at Fratton Park, signing a two-year contract in August.