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LONDON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva should make a full recovery after fracturing his left fibula and dislocating his ankle against Birmingham City at the weekend, the Premier League leaders said on Monday.
After consultations between the club's medical staff and his orthopaedic surgeon, a tentative time frame has been put on the player's recovery.
"All being well Eduardo will have his leg in plaster and be using crutches for the next six to eight weeks. After that partial weight-bearing exercises will be scheduled into a slow rehabilitation process," said a statement on the club's Web site (www.arsenal.com).
"It is hoped Eduardo will be running again in six months and making a full recovery after nine months."
The Brazilian-born Croatia international was injured by a tackle from City defender Martin Taylor after three minutes, with many players visibly shocked by the extent of the damage. Eduardo, who will miss Euro 2008, underwent surgery at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham on Saturday before being transferred to a London hospital on Sunday.
Despite horrific photographs in many newspapers showing the player's foot dangling at a sickening angle, the extent of the injury appears not as bad as first feared.
Arsenal said Eduardo would be released from hospital in a few days.
RED CARD
Birmingham will not appeal against the red card shown to Taylor. City manager Alex McLeish said his defender was "mentally shattered" by Eduardo's injury.
"Having played the game at a high level for 20 years I used to go in for these challenges myself," former Scotland coach McLeish told the BBC.
"Some tackles do make me wince but this one I didn't give a moment's thought. Martin was horrified. There certainly wasn't a big protest over the red card from him but he's seen the damage that was done to Eduardo and I could see it in his face.
"Even if the referee had given him a yellow card I don't know if he could have played on. We've had to rally round Martin because he is mentally shattered by the whole experience."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger initially said Taylor, who had previously been shown only one red card, "should not be allowed to play football again".
But the Frenchman later retracted his comments, saying they had been excessive.
Birmingham snatched a 2-2 draw thanks to a James McFadden penalty in stoppage time.
