Pre-match curries, half-time fights and Brentford frights have prepared Ben White for another tilt at international football.

The Arsenal defender has worked his way back into Gareth Southgate’s ranks having not been involved since he was part of the squad that reached the final of Euro 2020.

White did not play a minute of football during the tournament after replacing the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold, winning his only caps to date in two warm-up games.

A poor start following a £50million summer move from Brighton to Arsenal saw White slip out of the England picture.

A turnaround in form has the Gunners in pole position for a top-four finish and White back in international picture as the World Cup hovers into view.

Making it to Qatar would be a huge achievement for a player who had just spent a year on loan at League Two Newport – which included taking Tottenham to an FA Cup replay – before watching England reach the 2018 World Cup semi-finals.

“I don’t think I ever thought about playing for England then,” he said of his time at Rodney Parade. “I was just thinking I need to be good enough to play in League Two.

“It was one of the best years of my life. I’d gone from an academy where everything is nice and you have everything you want. And then you go there and everything is completely different. You’re having a curry for your pre-match meal!

“In my first game there was a punch-up at half-time, between our own players in our own dressing room. It was a bit scary to be fair. I didn’t want to make any mistakes, that’s for sure.”

White’s career could have been derailed completely when he was released by Southampton at 16.

“I didn’t know if I wanted to carry on. It was obviously tough not being wanted,” he said.

“I wasn’t good enough when I was younger. I was a late developer. I was probably as tall as I am now but really skinny, gangly, couldn’t really run.

“I went to Bristol Rovers on trial for three days. I only did two because we were literally just running up hills. Didn’t get a football out at all and it absolutely killed me, I couldn’t do it.

“Then I got a trial at Leicester, they didn’t offer me anything.”

After further loans at Peterborough and Leeds, White broke into the Brighton side last season and needed just a year to impress Arsenal, who swooped last summer.

Things did not get off to the most auspicious of starts, White playing in the season-opening loss at newly-promoted Brentford before missing further defeats to Chelsea and Manchester City having tested positive for coronavirus.

“The start of the season was tough,” he admits.

“The first game wasn’t ideal for me, I didn’t play very well and then I got Covid so I was out for another two games.

“It wasn’t the start I wanted but coming through the season now, I’m playing every week, the team is doing really well and it’s very positive.”

White was criticised by pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher following his debut at Brentford, the two former England defenders claiming future opponents would see his performance and target the 23-year-old.

White said: “I saw it, I think it was the first time I’ve actually been singled out. It’s never a nice feeling but it just gives me more incentive to go out there and do well.

“You look at those two players and what they’ve achieved, particularly Jamie as a centre-half.

“Some of it obviously you have to look at it and see what they’ve said and some of the stuff they said was true that game.

“It wasn’t my best – obviously they’ve had amazing careers and hopefully one day I could have something like that.”