Sean Raggett is excited to come back to Crabble on Saturday with new side Lincoln but admits he does not know what reception he will get from the Dover fans.

The centre-back came through the Whites academy and was a mainstay of the side which got promoted to the Vanarama National League.

However, the 22-year-old signed for Lincoln last month and has impressed for the Imps as they briefly rose to the top of the table last week.

He said: “I’ve loved it up here so far. It’s been good to move out of my parents’ home. It’s good experience on the football side and it’s class being full-time, getting up and training every day. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”

After making more than 150 Dover appearances, Raggett admitted: “I have some good friends there, that would be one thing I miss, but that’s part of football and I still keep in touch with a lot of them.

“I’m excited to come back to Crabble but once I step over the white line, I’ll just be focused on getting the three points for Lincoln.”

He added: “The reception I get doesn’t really faze me at all. The fans were always good to me because we were successful and achieved a lot when I was at Dover, which I appreciated, but I now play for a rival so whatever reception the fans decide to give me, I’ll be fine with.”

The England C player explained the reasons for his departure, adding: “Anyone that knows me knows it had nothing to do with money. It was all about progressing my career and I felt being full-time was going to help develop me as a player.

“After spending six years at Dover, I also needed a new challenge and experience by getting out of my comfort zone – I believe this will help me as a footballer and as a person.”

Raggett is sure to be an influential factor in both penalty areas and revealed: “If I score I will celebrate because I’ll be focused on getting the win for Lincoln.

“If I scored an own-goal the Dover fans would celebrate and I’d expect them to. So I’ll be the same if I manage to score.”

One of his main tasks for the day will be stopping in-form Ricky Miller who has four goals in his last three games and Raggett said: “Ricky’s on fantastic form at the moment and he’s a great player.

“I know his game fairly well so I’ll have some thoughts on what to do and not do.

"I know Dover have some very good, dangerous players.”