Arsenal centre-back Ben White has missed out on a place in the latest England squad for upcoming World Cup qualifiers in the October international break, despite good recent club form.
Having impressed in the Premier League with Brighton last season, White was a surprise inclusion in the 26-player Euro 2020 squad during the summer. He didn’t get on the pitch at the tournament but earned two caps in warm-up friendlies against Austria and Romania beforehand.
White went on to join Arsenal in a £50m transfer in July and has played well in his last few appearances for the Gunners after overcoming a difficult start to the season.
The 23-year-old defender was out of contention for an England call-up in September after testing positive for COVID-19 in late August and missing two Premier League games.
There was a gap to be filled in the October squad because of the injury ruling Harry Maguire, usually an automatic selection, out of contention. However, rather than recall White for the first time since Euro 2020, Gareth Southgate opted to give that chance to AC Milan's Fikayo Tomori instead.
John Stones, who played 90 minutes against both Hungary and Poland last month, has kept his place in the squad despite not getting on the pitch for Manchester City at all so far this season.
England will first travel to Andorra on 9 October, before hosting Hungary three days later.
Southgate’s team lead the qualifying group, with Albania so far providing the closest competition four points back, having won five of their six games so far. A 1-1 draw with Poland last time out were the first points that England have dropped in this campaign.
Only the group winners will automatically qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
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Source : 90min