Bendtner backed by boss

Bendtner: Backed by boss

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has backed Nicklas Bendtner to rediscover his scoring touch, while the Frenchman feels Eduardo will be back to his best in six weeks.

Danish striker Bendtner has struggled for form of late, netting just once in his last 14 appearances for the Gunners.

Reports in Friday's press even suggested he could be sold in January, but Wenger's backing of the 20-year-old has quashed those rumours.

"I believe that at this moment he puts a lot of pressure on himself and he does not play with enough freedom," Wenger told the club's official website.

"I am sure he works harder than ever in training and that will come good but at the moment he does not get rewarded for the kind of pressure he puts into his training."

Eduardo

Meanwhile, Wenger has praised broken leg victim Eduardo for his rehabilitation work, with the striker set to feature for the reserves next week in his first match since February.

He said: "It is great news. Of course the problem for Eduardo is that, even though he is playing a game, we still must get him back to a competitive level.

"Basically we don't know how much patience he will need but if patience is needed we have to take it.

"I still believe that we have to give him at least one-and-a-half months' competition before he will be completely back at the level he was before.

"But he has a fantastic basis of fitness because he has worked unbelievably hard. I mean unbelievably hard. So he could still surprise us by being a little bit quicker."