Saturday, March 8, 2008

Wenger - Eduardo can follow Diaby example


Arsène Wenger expects Eduardo's road to recovery to follow a similar pattern to Abou Diaby's.

The French midfielder suffered a broken and dislocated ankle at Sunderland in May 2006 and returned eight months later after complicated surgery, a lot of patience and a long, hard rehabilitation. Eduardo faces a similar journey after fracturing his leg and dislocating his ankle at Birmingham 13 days ago.

Wenger told Arsenal TV Online on Thursday that the Croatian striker is "doing as well as he can" at this early stage of his recovery. At his pre-match press conference the Arsenal manager predicted that Eduardo will need slightly longer than Diaby did before he pulls on an Arsenal shirt again.

"We believe the earliest he will play again is nine months," said Wenger.

"That is three months without really putting his foot down and then six months to practise fully, the same as Diaby."

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