Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is confident Eduardo can handle a return to St Andrews this weekend.
Gunners boss also expecting to have Bendtner back at St Andrews
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is confident Eduardo can handle a return to St Andrews this weekend.
The striker is set to head back to Birmingham on Saturday for the first time since he suffered a horrific broken leg against the Blues in February 2008.
The Croatian has shown commendable character to bounce back from that injury and has been a regular part of the Gunners' first-team fold this season.
Wenger accepts that Eduardo will have to conquer his personal demons when returning to the Midlands, but is adamant the Brazilian-born frontman will take everything in his stride.
"I have not spoken to him yet about that, but it will certainly have a weight in his mind," the Arsenal manager said.
Strength
"That is part of a career as well, to show you have that mental strength to deal with those kind of situations and Eduardo has a lot of mental strength - he can deal with that.
"Overall we want him to come back there and just win our game. That is the only way you can deal with that situation."
Nicklas Bendtner will also be hoping to feature this weekend, against the side he enjoyed a successful loan spell at in 2006/07, and Wenger expects the Danish hot-shot to shake off an ankle complaint in time to put himself in contention.
"He should be okay," the French coach told Arsenal's
official website.
"He is not back in training yet because he has an ankle problem, but he will have a late test tomorrow (Friday) morning and should be available."
Pressure
Meanwhile, in the wake of an angry touchline confrontation between David Moyes and Roberto Mancini on Wednesday, Wenger, who has been known to lose his temper in the past, claims there is nothing wrong with managers showing a bit of emotion in the heat of battle.
"I had some [incidents], but we are all under pressure," he said.
"During a game at one specific moment it can happen that, for a fraction of a second, we lose it a little bit.
"It can happen to anybody. It just shows that we are humans like everybody and that we care."
