England coach Gareth Southgate admits Arsenal defender Ben White has turned down selection.

Southgate announced the news when naming his squad for this month's friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.

"I spoke to him post-Qatar and there was reticence from his side. I don't know why that is," said Southgate, referring to White being sent home early from the World Cup.

"There is no issue between us at all and there's also no issue with Steve, which has been mentioned in articles and I don't like that.

"I have to accept things are false about me, but I'm not prepared for that to happen to my coaching team. That is not the reason Ben is not with us."

He added: "[White] would be in this squad but he's not available to us and I have to focus on who can help us.

"Clearly on form. I can't sit here and say he doesn't deserve to be in.

"It is a great shame. He is a player we took to the Euros, a player we took to the World Cup and I spoke to him post-Qatar because I wanted to pick him.

"People have given me a lot of stick for not picking players in the past who haven't made themselves available. But I've always been able to keep them out of that story.

"On this occasion, because of the circumstances around the number of injuries and his decision to come off the long list I've got to be more transparent."

Asked if he is the issue, the Three Lions boss said: "I don't know the answer to that. I hope that's not the reason."