Arsene Wenger does not want Hector Bellerin to play for Spain at the European Under-21 Championship in Poland in June, but accepts that he cannot stop him.

The 22-year-right back has struggled to shake off an ankle injury that has badly affected his season and he has been unable to replicate his form from last year. He has been target by disgruntled Arsenal fans, most visibly at Selhurst Park during Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat last Monday.

While Wenger defended Bellerin against that abuse, he said that Bellerin spending June playing international football was “not ideal” and he would rather Bellerin rested and recovered. However Wenger did acknowledge he thought Bellerin would go and play for Spain and that as his club manager he was powerless to stop it.

Arsenal's dirty dozen Show all 12 1 /12 Arsenal's dirty dozen Arsenal's dirty dozen January 31 - LOST 2-1 v Watford (H) With some big games on the horizon, Arsenal were shocked as goals from Younes Kaboul and Troy Deeney set the Hornets on their way with Alex Iwobi's reply not enough for the hosts. Getty Arsenal's dirty dozen February 4 - LOST 3-1 v Chelsea (A) With Antonio Conte's Blues on fire this was always going to be difficult for Wenger and his side and they were blown away as Marcos Alonso, Eden Hazard and former Arsenal favourite Cesc Fabregas scored - Olivier Giroud hit an injury-time consolation. Getty Arsenal's dirty dozen February 11 - WON 2-0 v Hull (H) An unconvincing win over the relegation-threatened Tigers proved to be just a short period of respite, the three points were sewn up courtesy of an Alexis Sanchez brace. Getty Arsenal's dirty dozen February 15 - LOST 5-1 v Bayern Munich (A) Hopes of ending a six-year run of being eliminated from the Champions League at the round-of-16 stage were all-but ended in Bavaria as Arjen Robben, Robert Lewandowski, Thiago (2) and Thomas Muller all scored. Sanchez grabbed Arsenal's away goal. Getty Arsenal's dirty dozen February 20 - WON 2-0 v Sutton (A) Another unspectacular win against non-league Sutton in the FA Cup, goals from Lucas Perez and Theo Walcott were enough for the Gunners to keep their hopes of winning silverware this season alive. Getty Arsenal's dirty dozen March 4 - LOST 3-1 v Liverpool (A) A return to league action and a return to defeat as Jurgen Klopp's side proved too good for Arsenal at Anfield. Danny Welbeck scored the consolation for the visitors but Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum wrapped up the win for the Reds. Getty Arsenal's dirty dozen March 7 - LOST 5-1 v Bayern Munich (H) Despite performing better against their German counterparts in the return leg, Walcott's goal was cancelled out by Lewandowski, Robben, Douglas Costa and an Arturo Vidal brace - Arsenal suffered a humiliating 10-2 aggregate loss, the biggest for an English side in the Champions League. Getty Arsenal's dirty dozen March 11 - WON 5-0 v Lincoln (H) Another non-league challenger dispatched in the FA Cup to send Arsenal into the last four; Walcott, Giroud, Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey helped themselves to goals alongside a Luke Waterfall own goal. Getty Arsenal's dirty dozen March 18 - LOST 3-1 v West Brom (A) With pro-Wenger and anti-Wenger planes flown over the Hawthorns, the latter would have left feeling more vindicated as Craig Dawson scored twice and Hal Robson-Kanu added a third off the bench. Sanchez had earlier equalised for the visitors. Getty Images Arsenal's dirty dozen April 2 - DREW 2-2 v Man City (H) Wenger's side showed resolve to fight back twice and take a point against their top-four rivals, with Walcott and Shkodran Mustafi equalising strikes from Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero. Arsenal's dirty dozen April 5 - WON 3-0 v West Ham (H) With some fans staying away from the opening of this London derby to protest against Wenger, Arsenal eventually showed they had the class to beat a West Ham side bereft of confidence themselves - Mesut Ozil, Walcott and Giroud got the goals. Getty Arsenal's dirty dozen April 10 - LOST 3-0 v Crystal Palace (A) Any positivity was short-lived as Sam Allardyce's Eagles soared to a comfortable victory in south London. Former Tottenham man Andros Townsend opened the scoring before Yohan Cabaye struck and a Luka Milivojevic penalty rounded off yet another forgettable night for Arsenal. Getty

“It is not ideal after a long season,” Wenger sighed when asked about it at his press conference on Friday morning. “He should have a rest and prepare for next season. The Spanish players love to play for their country, and I think he will go as he loves to play for Spain.”

Bellerin is likely to be in Albert Celades’ squad, his final Under-21 championship before he is too old to play at that level any more. He is very keen to be part of the squad who are in a group with Portugal, Serbia and Macedonia. If Bellerin goes he will only get a brief break at the end of the domestic season, as Spain’s first game is on 17 June. If Spain play the final on 30 June then Bellerin would only get another short break before pre-season.

Having been part of the Spain senior squad at Euro 2016, Bellerin has not had a full summer off since 2015. Wenger is desperate for him to have a long break to allow his body to fully recover. Bellerin missed five weeks with an ankle injury in November and since then he has not felt at 100 per cent fitness. Wenger insisted that he is finally over the problem, but admitted it has affected his game.

“He has not come back to his level since he has been injured,” Wenger admitted. “I think for a while he was [still feeling his ankle].”

“Then you get bad habits, and you forget that your job first is to defend and win challenges, because you protect yourself a little bit,” Wenger said. “Then you realise you have to come back. I think now he is trying to focus on again what is important, to defend well. After he can give us that extra bit that is important as well. I agree that for a while he was not the Hector Bellerin we had seen at the start of the season.”

Arsene Wenger's worst Arsenal defeats Show all 8 1 /8 Arsene Wenger's worst Arsenal defeats Arsene Wenger's worst Arsenal defeats AC Milan 4 Arsenal 0, Champions League last 16 first leg, 2012 Another last-16 elimination, and another example of the tie being over before the second leg. A Robinho brace and goals from Kevin Prince-Boating and Zlatan Ibrahimovic meant Milan took a hefty lead back to the Emirates. The Gunners won that 3-0 but it was too little, too late. Getty Images Arsene Wenger's worst Arsenal defeats Manchester City 6 Arsenal 3, Premier League, 2013 Arsenal were top of the league at the time but were blown away by City to close the gap to three points. Slack defending cost them and even when Per Mertesacker headed in a late consolation goal to make it 5-3, Yaya Toure still had time to score a sixth. Getty Images Arsene Wenger's worst Arsenal defeats Bayern Munich 5 Arsenal 1, Champions League Group Stage, 2015 Yes, remarkably, Tuesday night was is not even the second time Arsenal have lost 5-1 to Bayern. In last season’s Group Stage, Robert Lewandowski, David Alaba, Arjen Robben and two Thomas Muller goals saw to an embarrassing night for Wenger. Bongarts/Getty Images Arsene Wenger's worst Arsenal defeats Liverpool 5 Arsenal 1, Premier League, 2014 Liverpool were rampant three years ago and stormed into a four goal lead inside the opening 20 minutes at Anfield, including two goals from centre-back Martin Skrtel. Raheem Sterling made it five with Mikel Arteta’s penalty a mere consolation. Getty Images Arsene Wenger's worst Arsenal defeats Tottenham 5 Arsenal 1, League Cup semi-final second leg, 2008 A humiliating scoreline – made all the worse by it being against the Gunners’ most bitter rivals. The defeat cost them a place in the League Cup final as Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Adebayor nearly violently clashed on the pitch. Getty Images Arsene Wenger's worst Arsenal defeats Manchester United 6 Arsenal 1, Premier League, 2001 Dwight Yorke bagged a first-half hat-trick at Old Trafford as United raced into a 5-1 lead by the break. Teddy Sheringham added a late sixth as the Red Devils went 16 points clear at the top of the Premier League. Getty Images Arsene Wenger's worst Arsenal defeats Chelsea 6 Arsenal 0, Premier League, 2014 Not the best way for Wenger to celebrate his 1000th game in charge of Arsenal. Chelsea were 3-0 up inside 17 minutes in a game which also saw Kieran Gibbs sent off in a case of mistaken identity with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Getty Images Arsene Wenger's worst Arsenal defeats Manchester United 8 Arsenal 2, Premier League, 2011 Wayne Rooney grabbed a hat-trick to help inflict Wenger’s biggest defeat as Arsenal boss. It was made all the worst as it was by a Manchester United team with a midfield of Tom Cleverley, Anderson, Nani and Ashley Young. Getty Images

While Wenger thinks that Bellerin’s ankle has “completely healed” and said he does not need surgery as he is “completely clear”, he still wants more understanding from Arsenal fans who have turned on Bellerin recently.

Wenger agreed that targeting Bellerin was “unfair” because of how committed the right-back is to the club. “He is a guy who is genuinely Arsenal and who wants to do well,” Wenger said. “He is ready to play with pain, and I think it is [unfair], yes.” Wenger did not say this, but the fact that Bellerin turned down a move to Manchester City last summer to stay at Arsenal and sign a new contract does underline his commitment to Arsenal.

Arsenal go to Middlesbrough on Monday night and Wenger is determined that his team should reverse their disastrous away form with a good result. But he is not allowing too much of the criticism to get to him.