Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin has praised his team's defence after their 0-0 draw with Leeds at Elland Road, but says he is "not happy" with the result and insists the Gunners are "learning how to suffer".
The 25-year-old was part of the defence which kept a clean sheet against Marcelo Bielsa's side in a tough away game where Arsenal were forced to play with ten men for the second half following Nicolas Pepe's red card.
Bellerin refused to be drawn into what the players said to Pepe in the dressing room after the game, saying "these things just probably need to wait for later in the week", but he did praise the "character" and resilience of his team-mates for how they kept Leeds at bay in the second half.
"Well I am happy for the character the team has shown. We have solidified our defence throughout the season and that is something that we have proved in games like this," said Bellerin.
"I always says we are learning how to suffer, which is something that I think is really important nowadays because you are not always going to have control of the ball.
"And those times where you don’t have it, it’s important that you don’t concede goals, and today that was almost the whole game - apart for 20, 25 minutes of the first-half. So, I am happy with that but I can’t say that as a football player I feel happy with the draw. I want to get the win.
"Even when we were down to 10 men we still had chances to score and I think that’s what makes the difference in the long run. When we have chances like that we need to put them to bed. Overall, I think we just need to forget this game and move on to the next one."
The high intensity style which Leeds pride themselves on is something that proved taxing for Arsenal both physically and mentally throughout the game, as they lost Willian to injury at half-time and Bukayo Saka in the second half.
Bellerin cites the importance of adapting to every situation and believes the restless nature of Bielsa's side makes them one of the most difficult teams to play against in the Premier League.
"I don’t know if people at home realise how difficult it is to play against a team like this. They’ve been working really hard and this is their third year [under Marcelo Bielsa]. They know how they want to play. They literally don’t rest in the whole game and for us it is a challenge.
"Sometimes we are going to have teams that are going to wait for us, sometimes we are going to have teams that are going to press high and sometimes we are going to have teams like Leeds - who are all over the pitch. So for us it is important to adapt to every single situation.
"I think there were periods of the game, especially the first-half, where we did interpret the game well and we we were able to cause them a lot of trouble. But obviously going down to 10 men makes things really difficult and, against a team like them, it shows it is very difficult to play against."
