JEFF POWELL: No player should refuse a call from their country. Gareth Southgate must cut Ben White loose

A poll has found that almost 40 per cent of men under the age of 28 would refuse to join up if this proud nation issued a call to arms in the event of Vlad the Invader setting his sights on Western Europe.

Recruitment to our armed forces is at an all-time dribble. And if the government were to enforce conscription, then those recent findings reveal that more millions of men of fighting age would flee this country than are presently flooding across Ukraine’s borders to dodge Zelensky’s war.

It is reasonable to presume that Ben White - given that he defected from England’s squad midway through the Qatar World Cup - would be among the refuseniks.

No real reason was given for his taking a premature flight home.

The suggestion is that since White thinks he’s the best right-back since Brazil’s immortal Carlos Alberto, he found it impossible to comprehend why he had not been called upon by Gareth Southgate to play so much as a single second in the group games in Qatar.

So affronted was he, it is said, that he appalled Southgate’s staff by declining to study a video of the next team England would be up against.

Whatever the excuse, there appears very little doubt that he put personal before patriotic.

Frankly, no footballer should refuse to turn up for his country. Whether it be on the pitch, on the bench or even in the stands. If White breaks his silence and offers a GENUINE reason for his decision, I am willing to let him off.

But let’s have it right, Ben. While kicking your heels instead of a ball can be a mite frustrating, it does not carry the risk of a lifetime never again being able to kick a ball because your legs have been severely injured.

And by the way, there is no pulling out of the frontline because your girlfriend has