It looks like the news is as bad as we feared for Sead Kolasinac, after Arsenal confirmed he’s suffered a significant ankle injury.

Ahead of Arsenal’s match against Liverpool at the weekend, the club confirmed that Sead Kolasinac has sustained a significant injury to his left ankle.

The club aren’t putting a timeframe on the left-back’s recovery just yet. They simply state that he’s starting his rehabilitation and being assessed.

Kolasinac picked up the injury in a World Cup qualifier with Bosnia & Herzegovina, after a terrible challenge leading to a red card.

The defender started the match with his country desperately in need of a win against Finland to keep their World Cup qualification hopes alive.

Those qualification hopes were dealt a major blow in the first half, as Finland took the lead before injuring Kolasinac.

Jukka Raitala came flying in and caught Kolasinac badly on the ankle when the ball was gone. Kolasinac had to come off, and Raitala was sent off.

The Bosnia left-back seemed particularly frustrated as he left the field of play.

That’s not surprising, as rather bizarrely, this isn’t even the first time this has happened this season.

Kolasinac also limped off the pitch after being on the end of a red-card challenge from France’s Jules Kounde in September.

Fortunately, the Arsenal defender was alright on that occasion, returning to action less than a week later. It doesn’t look like he’s going to be so lucky this time.

Just to compound Kolasinac’s misery, Bosnia & Herzegovina couldn’t make a comeback against 10 men, and they lost the match 3-1 to end their World Cup hopes.