Portsmouth transfer news: Defender clarifies stance on his future amid Gillingham links and unfamiliar Fratton Park role

The Fratton Park defender made the vow after finding himself benched for the Blues’ first four games of the new League One season.

His commitment to the club also comes during another summer overhaul that PO4 that has seen the 29-year-old linked with a move to hometown club Gillingham.

Those links were initially dismissed by Mousinho at the end of July, with the head coach adding that Pompey were much stronger with Raggett in their ranks just last week.

Now the former Norwich and Lincoln centre-back has rubbished rumours of a move to the Gills or any other club between now and the close of the transfer window. That’s despite the 2021-22 Pompey Player of the Year and Blues cult hero still seeking his first league start of the new campaign.

On Tuesday night, when asked by BBC Solent about a potential move to Gillingham, Raggett categorically said: ‘No. I’ve been fully focused on Portsmouth, for sure.’

When quizzed on his lack of game time this term, with summer arrival Regan Poole squeezing him out of the first team, the defender admitted he was frustrated. Yet he vowed to work hard in order to win his place back in the side.

‘I think everyone who hasn’t played in the league is disappointed, as you’d expect,’ said Raggett.

‘All you’ve got to do is work hard and try to get yourself in that team, which is what I’m trying to do and I’ll carry on doing that.

‘Even from when I was very young when I was starting out, I had a lot of – I’m not saying this is a rejection – but I had a lot of rejections and people telling me I’m not good enough, all the usual stuff. So I know what it’s about and I’ll just carry on working hard and trying to get into that team.

‘I’m old enough now, I’ve got a lot of experience, I’ve played a lot of games, I know how football works. You’ve just got to work hard and try to get back into that side. It’s a long season and we’ve got a good squad here. If everyone is working hard and trying to improve each other then we’ll do well.’

Raggett has played just five minutes of league football this term, following cameo appearances from the bench against Leyton Orient and Exeter.

However, he’s started and finished both the Blues’ games in the Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy respectively, with the latter competition seeing him score twice in the 3-3 draw with Fulham Under-21s.

Prior to this season, Raggett had featured 196 times for Pompey in all competitions and would have been one of the first names down on the team sheet.