Ben Brereton pulled on the training gear of Chile for the first time yesterday after meeting his new team-mates following his call-up for the national team.

Brereton has been named in Martin Lasarte’s first squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers with Argentina and Bolivia next month and pledged his allegiance to La Roja, the country where his mother was born.

The 21-year-old was part of a small group of national team players who trained in Santiago yesterday, overseen by boss Lasarte, ahead of the games on June 4 and June 9, and the Copa America which follows the World Cup qualifiers.

Brereton is in the 30-man squad for the World Cup matches, and is expected to keep his place for the Copa America matches, the tournament running from June 11 to July 10, but that squad is yet to be named.

The squad is set to be boosted by the involvement of their European stars in the coming days, with many major leagues concluding last weekend.

Claudio Bravo, Gary Medel and Alexis Sanchez are among those named in the squad for the qualifiers, but Lasarte has suggested he will rest many of his senior stars for the re-arranged Copa America.

Since the end of Rovers’ Championship, which finished on May 8, Brereton has been working with coaching staff at AFC Darwen’s Anchor Ground to maintain his fitness, with his likely involvement in the Copa America set to see him return late for Rovers’ pre-season programme.