Back with a bang!

Eduardo scores twice on his return from injury after a year to earn rave reviews from Gunners' boss Arsene Wenger

Back with a bang!

Eduardo scores twice on his return from injury after a year to earn rave reviews from Gunners' boss Arsene Wenger

Arsene Wenger

Eduardo was a surprise name in the Gunners' starting line-up for their FA Cup fourth-round replay after almost a year out injured and rewarded his manager with his first goals since scoring against Manchester City in February last year.

Nicklas Bendtner and substitute Robin van Persie also got on the scoresheet as the Gunners brushed aside their Coca-Cola Championship opposition 4-0.

Big part
"Everybody is very happy for him. This is the kind of game we love to play, and it was good to see them play with the handbrake off," said Wenger.

"He played a big part in that, and I'm very pleased for him.

"He made a big step forward in training two weeks ago, and you could see he found his sharpness in front of goal.

"He's been extremely strong mentally. I've never seen one minute of doubt in his mind, not one minute where he said, 'I don't want to do this'.

"He is always wanting more. This guy is small but he has the mental strength of a mountain."

The Frenchman may have to manage the comeback of his Croatian striker carefully he came off while still in search of his hat-trick with a slight hamstring complaint but admitted he could yet boost his side's prospects in the end-of-season run-in.

Small thing
"He had a slight tightness of the hamstring, but we expect it will be a small thing," added Wenger.

"We'll know at the end of the season how important it (his comeback) is, but I'm very happy to have him back.
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He can play as a striker, on the flank, behind the striker, up front on his own. That is important for us."

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