England interim boss Lee Carsley has revealed that Ben White was still not available for selection after he named his first squad.
Carsley named a 26-man squad for the Three Lions’ upcoming Nations League games against the Republic of Ireland and Finland.
Marcus Rashford and Kyle Walker were among the omissions while four uncapped players – Noni Madueke, Morgan Gibbs-White, Tino Livramento and Angel Gomes all made the squad.
Eyes had been on whether White would be named in Carsley’s party following the exits of former manager Gareth Southgate and his assistant Steve Holland.
However, White was not named in the squad, and when asked about this in his press conference, Carsley said: ‘As far as I am aware, he wasn’t available for selection and nothing has changed in my two weeks. That’s where we are at with it.
Lee Carsley (right) says Ben White (left) was still not available for England selection
White has displayed no change in stance despite Gareth Southgate (right) and Steve Holland (left) leaving the England set-up
‘I have seen press reports that he is open to it but nothing has changed. He has made himself unavailable for selection so not sure where we go with that.’
White left England’s World Cup 2022 camp mid-tournament in mysterious circumstances, but it has since emerged that a disagreement with former Holland was at the root of the 26-year-old’s decision.
It was reported that Southgate’s assistant asked Walker a question related to Manchester City’s performances in the previous season, before posing the same question to White in regards to Arsenal.
The 26-year-old allegedly claimed he did not know the answer, leading Holland to claim that was down to his lack of interest in football.
The conversation is said to have happened in front of other members of the squad.
There had been indications that White would come out of his self-imposed exclusion once Holland was no longer on the staff, but the Arsenal star has not expressed a change in stance.
But it is understood White has not expressed a change in stance since Southgate and Holland’s departure with the expectation being that he will not be included.
