Ben Foster defends Ben White after Arsenal star rejected an England call-up

Former England goalkeeper Ben Foster has defended Ben White's decision to reject a call-up from Gareth Southgate ahead of the international break.

The Arsenal star last featured in an England side two years ago in March 2022, but initially was named in the manager's World Cup squad for Qatar later that year.

The 26-year-old then left the camp midway through the campaign for 'personal reasons' - with suggestions that White had been involved in a disagreement with assistant coach Steve Holland firmly denied by Southgate last week.

But during his squad announcement, the England head coach also revealed that he had received a call from Arsenal director Edu expressly asking him not to include White in his plans for friendlies against Brazil and Belgium at the player's behest.

Responses to White's national team snub have been met with mixed sympathies, but the former Wrexham shot-stopper had an empathetic view on why White might have made the difficult decision to - at least temporarily - call time on his international career.

‘It’s hard to know exactly what Ben White is like as a character,' Foster said on his podcast The Fozcast. 'There’s been loads of stories floating around before about the fact that he doesn’t particularly like football away from it.

‘Obviously when he turns up to his day job at Arsenal he trains very well. See him on a Saturday afternoon he’s been one of the best right-backs in the Premier League this season.

‘But when it comes to all the other stuff, I get the vibe that he doesn’t really enjoy it all, he doesn’t like the show of it all, especially going away with England.

‘It’s a two-week period where he can have a real rest, a real shutdown, escape from it all, not have to worry about football and when