London, Jan 23 (IANS): Arsenal's Spanish defender Hector Bellerin will miss the rest of the season after being diagnosed with a knee cruciate ligament injury, the Premier League side announced on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old player sustained the injury during Arsenal's London derby against Chelsea in a Premier League contest at the Emirates stadium on Saturday, reports Efe news.

"We can confirm that Hector has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee," Arsenal said in a statement on the club's official website, "Hector will undergo surgery to repair this in the coming days."

The club added that Bellerin will recover from his injury within six to nine months, which sidelines him for the rest of this season and may affect his play at the beginning of the 2019-2020 season.

Arsenal's Spanish head coach, Unai Emery, said he would rely on defenders Ainsley Maitland-Niels and Stephan Lichsteiner to play in Bellerin's absence.

In other injury-related news, Arsenal said that Armenian captain and the London side's attacking midfielder, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, has recovered from his right foot metatarsal fracture, and is expected to be back training with the team this week.