Eduardo comes back

Croatian striker very soon will be with the first team, recovering from the horrific leg break

Eduardo da Silva has not played since the double-compound fracture sustained in February against Birmingham City.

Blues defender Martin Taylor's 'horror-challenge' will be remembered by most fans as the tackle that almost ended Eduardo's career.

Fortunately however, Eduardo's recovery has stunned the Arsenal medical team, and he seems in line for a return to the squad soon after training for the last couple of weeks to regain his fitness.

Croatia were also starved of the striker's talents during EURO 2008 in the summer, and will also gratefully welcome his return as they prepare for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

The 25-year-old striker was due to return on December 1 in a reserve team match against Tottenham, but this game was cancelled as it clashes with the Carling Cup tie at Burnley.

He will play for the reserves on December 16 against Portsmouth and will be assessed closely by the Arsenal medical team, who will then make a decision on when to start using him again in the Premier League.

More worrying news for Arsenal fans is midfielder Tomas Rosicky, as it is not known when he will play again.

Rosicky suffered a knee injury before the end of last season, and also missed the EURO 2008 competition in Austra/Switzerland, and manager Arsene Wenger has said that he will be lucky if he plays at all this year.

His agent and brother Jin Rosicky spoke to the News Of The World, saying, "I haven’t a clue when he is going to play again. I just don’t know."