Bellerin – I’m a confident boy, I know I can play

Arsenal starlet Hector Bellerin has admitted that despite talk of second-season syndrome, he is confident that the experiences he has been made to deal with have set him up for a successful second campaign.

After a good start to the 2015/16 season, any media talk of Bellerin failing to maintain his good form seems to have been quashed and the 20-year-old has spoken to the matchday programme ahead of Arsenal’s crunch fixture with Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United about what has helped him to develop as a footballer.

A lot of people talk about that second season stuff but what plays in your favour is that I played 28 games last season.

I’m confident, I know that I can play and you know that all the experiences always play in your favour. You’ve got both sides of it – people saying that other teams know what you play like and know how to stop you, but you’ve got the confidence and the experience.

I’m finding it very good and I’m very happy that the boss is giving me as many opportunities as last year and that I’m playing the minutes I want.

Having made 28 appearances last season in his first senior campaign for the north London side, it is expected that if he can keep fit and decides to stay at the club, he will without doubt be the Gunners’ right-back for the long-term.

At the beginning of the first season, you don’t have that pressure to perform at 100 per cent, because it’s always hard when you first start. But now, in the second season, people are expecting big things from you, so you can’t really disappoint them.

You have to play your A game in every single match and that’s a good thing. That’s something that makes you grow as a player and for me this season is hopefully about getting the same minutes, starting every game and helping the team to do great things.

Bellerin’s high-quality form has already seen off much competition from his teammates, including life-long Arsenal fan Carl Jenkinson, who has been made to return on loan to West Ham United for a second season, while Calum Chambers has moved to the central defensive role and Mathieu Debuchy provides good back-up, but could be on the move if he can’t regain his first team spot.