Mikel Arteta has vowed to give Ben White the required opportunities for Arsenal to support the defender in making a late bid for England's World Cup squad next year.

White has started just one Premier League game this season, away to Manchester United on the opening weekend, and has been limited to just four appearances across all competitions so far.

Jurrien Timber has established himself as Arteta's first-choice option at right-back, with White struggling for fitness and then in his attempts to displace the Arsenal defender in the starting lineup.

White has not featured in an England squad since leaving the 2022 World Cup early for "personal reasons" amid much speculation over his relationship with the previous coaching team.

But Arteta hopes the 28-year-old can make a late push for Thomas Tuchel's travelling party, so long as White can show his quality with much of the campaign left to play.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday's EFL Cup clash against Brighton, Arteta said on Tuesday: "It's still a lot of months to go and in football everything can change one way or the other and if Ben wants to do that, if Thomas believes he is the right player to do so, I'm so happy for him.

"He will have here, I'm sure, a lot of minutes, a lot of opportunities and obviously his background talks about himself in the best possible way to give him the chance to be there.

"He had a setback, and that hasn't helped, but I think in preseason, probably, he was our best player. I think he played every game, and he was in great form, and we needed it.

"When Ben is at the level that he can show, he's a top player for us, a player that drives the team in a different way, gives us a different threat on that flank as well, and we needed him at his best."

Former England boss Gareth Southgate repeatedly denied any issues with White when he left the World Cup in Qatar amid talk of a tarnished relationship with assistant Steve Holland.

Southgate's replacement, Tuchel, has already opened the door for a potential White return after holding what the German described as positive talks.

The England manager, however, left the former Brighton defender out of his international squads for camps in March, June, September and October.

With limited action in this campaign, a place in next week's squad for internationals against Serbia and Albania appears unlikely for White, who will hope to rediscover his form from previous seasons to stake a claim.