Former Gunner Hector Bellerin picked up an unfortunate ankle injury with Real Betis on Thursday, with teammates complaining that the challenge wasn’t punished.

Hector Bellerin picked up an ankle injury playing for Real Betis against title-chasing Girona on Thursday, coming off worse in an unfortunate clash with an opponent.

Brazilian winger Savio went flying into a challenge with both feet off the ground, and Bellerin made to jump out of the way.

But as Bellerin’s right foot came down, it got trapped under Savio’s leg, twisting the ankle.

https://twitter.com/FyKlsh82464/status/1737898127196053787

The former Arsenal man tried to play on for around five minutes, before being substituted for Aitor Ruibal, who went on to concede a penalty in a 1-1 draw.

Speaking after the game, Ruibal was unhappy that he had been penalised for taking the man and the ball, whilst the referee hadn’t done the same in the case of Savio’s challenge on Bellerin.

“It didn’t seem like [a penalty] to me live, but with the explanation that the referee gave us, who says that I touched the ball and I also touched the player a little bit… He gave us the same explanation with the tackle on Hector,” Ruibal said.

“It was a little strange. That’s what we didn’t understand, that one didn’t get a whistle and the other one did.”

Bellerin will now face a nervous wait to establish the severity of his injury.

The defender was substituted after the medical team spotted bruising on his ankle, and at this stage local outlets don’t know if it’s just a bruise or something more serious.

The only piece of good news is that the Spanish clubs are now going on a winter break, so Bellerin will have a week or so to rest and recover before the season continues.