Having enjoyed an impressive breakthrough season in the first-team last term, Hector Bellerín has explained the reasons why he’s grown in confidence since then and how he’s up for a challenge with the returning Mathieu Debuchy for a regular right-back berth within Arsène Wenger’s side.

The 20-year-old Spaniard took full advantage of his opportunities after an unfortunate injury blow to Debuchy in September meant Arsenal needed someone to cover for the Frenchman.

Bellerín not only stepped into the right-back position, he made it his own despite a few shaky performances to begin with, which is only natural with a young promising player with plenty of potential to fulfill.

Despite plenty of claims suggesting the youngster could suffer from second-season syndrome, Hector maintains his belief that he’ll continue where he left off in the 2014/15 campaign, and keep improving as a result.

Having missed the West Ham fixture through a minor injury, he slotted straight back into the first eleven for the 2-1 victory away at Crystal Palace – proving that he’s the first-choiceahead of the more senior player.

Despite this, Bellerín has kept himself grounded and is certain that Debuchy’s return will inspire a more competitive edge from him.

As quoted by the Arsenal website, he said the following:

“You’re going to have ups and downs, but that has got nothing to do with the first or second season. I just need to keep training and playing the way I was last year, keep learning and keep getting experience, and hopefully having some good performances.

“I think the competition in every single position in the team is really strong, that’s going to make the team train harder, perform better and grow as players. It’s very good and all the successful teams have that kind of battle in every single spot because that keeps you on your feet and makes you perform better.”