Why Portsmouth's pre-season has served as a reminder of his days in non-league football for former Lincoln and Norwich defender Sean Raggett

It's been a hectic close season at PO4 with 13 first-team departures and eight summer arrivals as head coach Danny Cowley reshapes his squad.

There have also been a number of triallists training and featuring for the Blues throughout pre-season in a bid to bolster playing numbers.

In fact, Cowley included six triallists in his squad for yesterday's 2-0 friendly win over Championship side Peterborough.

But Louis Thompson, brother of former Pompey and current Posh defender Nathan, was the only one used.

Raggett, 27, admitted he has not experienced a summer like it as a player since his days with Dover Athletic and on loan at Sittingbourne, Herne Bay and Whitstable in the non-league.

But the former Norwich and Lincoln defender insists Pompey are not the only club in the situation this pre-season.

And Raggett reckons the eight new additions that have so far arrived this summer are quality signings.

The Blues defender said: ‘Probably not since my non-league days (seen such a summer over haul).

‘But I think a lot of clubs are in a similar situation where clubs are looking quite thin and you don’t want to compromise, you don’t want to compromise and that’s what we’ve done this season. I’m sure we’ll bring a few more in as well.

‘We’ve had such a big turnover of players, that’s what it’s like at that level (non-league).

‘But the players we’ve brought in have been really good signings, we’ve seen that today (against Peterborough), there were some really good performances out there.

‘I’m really bad at learning names as well so it took me a while but I’ve got used to everyone’s name now.’

Summer additions Kieron Freeman, Clark Robertson, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Shaun Williams all featured in Pompey's friendly win over Posh.

And Raggett says the squad can take a great deal of confidence from the victory ahead of next week's League One opener at Fleetwood.

He added: ‘It fills you with confidence, of course (win over Peterborough), especially when it’s one of the last ones before the start of the season. You want a good one because that’s what you’re going to take into the start. It’s what we had today and it feels really good.’