Portsmouth defender's message to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and those bemoaning fixture congestion

The Pompey defender has emphatically dismissed concerns over a pile-up of games having a negative effect on his team’s season.

And Raggett believes those in the Premier League who criticise the volume of action in English football need a reality check.

There’s been plenty of attention on the swathe of fixtures Kenny Jackett’s men are currently piling through, as they take on a schedule of 13 games across six weeks and battle away on three fronts.

It’s a run of four games in nine days from Fleetwood last weekend to the FA Cup clash with Arsenal on Monday.

Raggett is unconcerned about that intensity of the schedule, however, and views going from game to game as preferable to an extended build-up to action in training.

After making it into the professional ranks from the non-league game, the 26-year-old has seen at close quarters the demands placed on players when football is not their sole living.

The former Dover man, who also turned out for the likes of Sittingbourne and Whitstable, feels people like Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola should look at what those players go through before bemoaning the plight of his men.

Raggett said: ‘I’m not fussed at all about the games, to be honest. I’d much rather play games than train. I’ve always thought that.

‘These Premier League players who moan about fixture congestion need to go and play non-league and do a nine to five as well.

‘I don’t know how those boys do it. Maybe the others need to stop moaning.

‘When I was playing non-league I was still young so I didn’t have another job.

‘But a lot of the boys I was playing with were coming to training and games after doing a nine to five.

‘They were coming in tired after working, travelling around the country and then getting back and going to work again. That’s real hard work.’

After reaching the EFL Trophy final and last 16 of the FA Cup, Pompey are currently due to undertake a 60-game season, with success against Arsenal or play-off participation boosting that number.

That makes for 122 games across two campaigns after a similarly congested programme last term.

For a player with his grounding further down the league pyramid, that’s nothing out of the ordinary for Raggett though, and the defender is embracing the challenge after starting 19 games on the bounce for the Blues.

He said: ‘I’ve had a couple of seasons in my career when it’s been congested around this time. I’ve always enjoyed it.

‘People talk about 50 games being a lot. If I play any less than 50 games I don’t feel as if I’ve had a full season!’