Gareth Southgate responds to claims Ben White left England camp due to 'bust-up'

Gareth Southgate has refused to comment on suggestions Benjamin White left the England's World Cup base due to a disagreement with assistant manager Steve Holland.

Arsenal defender White left Qatar to return to the United Kingdom at the end of November without featuring in any of the Three Lions' group-stage fixtures. A Football Association statement confirmed the news and cited "personal reasons" as the reason for the departure while asking for the player's privacy to be respected.

A report from the Daily Star on Thursday claimed White, 25, left England's Al Wakrah headquarters after falling out with Holland. Further, the former Brighton star is understood to have struggled to integrate with the other members of the 26-man squad, leaving him unhappy in the Middle East.

The report claimed tensions boiled over when he was involved in an argument with Holland in front of his teammates. The pair are said to have clashed after White arrived at a team meeting ahead of the 0-0 draw with United States without brushing up on important statistics centred on his performances in training.

White was an unused substitute against the Stars and Stripes and missed England's final group game - the 3-0 victory over Wales - through illness before flying home. Holland, for his part, was reported to have felt let down by White failing to do his homework on USA's strengths and weaknesses.

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Southgate addressed these claims on Friday, one day before England's quarter-final against defending world champions France. The England manager refused to give the allegations "any form of credibility". He said on talkSPORT : "What I've been shown was alleged and there was another word that was used.

"I think by commenting on the story I could be giving it any form of credibility, really. We explained why Ben left the camp and I think it's important that that is respected, really."

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