British number two Kyle Edmund had an injury scare as he pushed world number three Grigor Dimitrov to three sets in the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International.

The 22-year-old needed treatment after he went over on his right ankle at 4-4 in the decider.

He was able to resume but went on to lose 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-4.

Edmund will now have the injury assessed before 2018’s opening Grand Slam, which starts on 15 January.

With Andy Murray already out with a hip problem, Edmund is due to be the highest-ranked Briton in the men’s singles.

• ‘It’s an awful long way back for Murray’

He crashed to the ground with a scream after being wrong-footed by Dimitrov during a rally. After seeing Edmund’s distress, Dimitrov immediately leaped over the net and sprinted to his aid, helping the Briton to his chair.

Edmund’s ankle was taped up and he appeared reasonably comfortable on his return to the court, but the momentum had gone and two games later the match was over.

The Briton had looked solid in the opening set and had break points to go 4-3 ahead. Dimitrov saved both and in the next game the Bulgarian took advantage of a couple of errors to break for a 5-3 advantage, before serving out the set when Edmund netted a backhand.

Edmund had to save two break points in the ninth game of the second set and, encouraged, he swept through the tie-break to deservedly level the match.

The deciding set was equally close with Edmund saving two break points in his opening service game but he was unable to seal a first win in 14 attempts over a top-10 ranked player.