Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin has hailed assistant manager Steve Bould for improving the defensive aspect of his game.

Bellerin has enjoyed a meteoric rise into one of the finest young right-backs in Europe over the past 12 months and the Spaniard is already considered an indispensable part of the current Arsenal side.

Bellerin's improvement during the last year has been remarkable and the defender has now gone on to credit Gunners legend Bould for helping him to improve his defensive output.

The 20-year-old said: "When I first came to Arsenal, I didn't know how to defend. If there was a person who I had to identify as helping me a lot, that would have to be Steve Bould.

"I was a winger but from the under-18s up, I remember him just showing me the basics. Even then, I remember him sometimes holding his head like, 'What is Hector doing?' He's been one of the key people in my career. He's one of the reasons I'm here now.

"When we defended the FA Cup, I reminded Steve of all those times stressing in training, or when we lost the Youth Cup, which was such a big thing for us. Steve was a top defender himself and has so much knowledge.

"Sometimes when he's speaking, I just laugh because he makes it look so easy and so obvious, and you haven't realised before. I really enjoy learning with him."