Brighton defender White called up to England Euros squad

Brighton defender Ben White has been called up to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold in England’s Euro 2020 squad.

The 23-year-old made his debut in last week’s 1-0 friendly win over Austria, the game in which Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold injured his thigh.

Central defender White started alongside Tyrone Mings in Sunday’s victory against Romania.

Gareth Southgate’s squad face Croatia at Wembley Stadium in their Group D opener on Sunday.

The England manager took his time to decide which of his standby players would come in for Liverpool full-back Alexander-Arnold, with Everton defender Ben Godfrey and Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse other options, both of whom started the Romania game.

Jesse Lingard and Ollie Watkins were also on the standby list.

White had never been involved in an England squad at any level before his recent call-up to the senior side.

He came through the Brighton academy and had loan spells at Newport County and Peterborough before spending a season on loan at Leeds, whom he helped win the 2019-20 Championship.

Although Leeds were keen to make his move permanent, Brighton did not want to sell and White has impressed for Graham Potter’s Premier League side, making 39 league and cup appearances this season after signing a four-year deal last September.

For Southgate, there are still fitness concerns over Manchester United skipper Harry Maguire and Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson.

Midfielder Henderson played the second half against Romania, missing a penalty as he returned from a near-four month lay-off following groin surgery in February.

Central defender Maguire is unlikely to be involved against Croatia having only just started running again after injuring his ankle last month.

Southgate was unable to call on the seven members of his squad who featured in the Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City for the friendlies against Austria and Romania so will assess Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Mason Mount, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling in the coming days.

BBC Online