Eduardo: Lewin saved my foot

Eduardo da Silva has thanked Arsenal physio Gary Lewin for saving his foot.

The Gunners striker is facing nine months out of the game after a foul by Birmingham's Martin Taylor last Saturday caused an open fracture of his lower leg and a dislocated ankle - but he knows the prognosis could have been much worse.

"The injury was so grave I could have lost my foot," he told the News of the World. "So I will always be grateful to Gary for what he did in lowering the risk to my leg. That was decisive. I do not remember too much about the blow."

He added: "I remember the pain, seeing that my foot had rotated, but I only recaptured my senses in hospital."

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was scathing in his condemnation of Taylor's tackle but Croatia star Eduardo accepts the defender's insistence there was no malice.

Taylor visited him in hospital, and Eduardo said: "I had to look at him. I could not understand how anyone could make a tackle like that in only the third minute of a game.

"But in the end I believed that Taylor was sincere and I accepted his excuses.

"Even though he had destroyed my season it would be incredible to think that what he did was pre-meditated."

The Brazilian-born forward, who spent his 25th birthday in hospital, also revealed he has not seen any footage or images of the tackle.

"I'm not interested," he added. "I've made this decision along with my wife. I want to try and forget what happened."