Arsenal fans are planning to turn Saturday s home game with Aston Villa into a tribute to injured star Eduardo, writes Jem Maidment. By Tuesday evening Arsenal had received well in excess of 12,000 messages of support for the Croatia striker while support

Arsenal fans are planning to turn Saturday's home game with Aston Villa into a tribute to injured star Eduardo, writes Jem Maidment.

By Tuesday evening Arsenal had received well in excess of 12,000 messages of support for the Croatia striker while supporters groups were organising banners to be displayed at The Emirates for the Barclays Premier League clash with the Villans.

One message, from supporter Steven Beth, from north London, summed up the mood of Arsenal followers: "You're a fantastic player and I am sure you will be able to overcome the injury and return to where you belong, playing top football with Arsenal. Stay strong."

Eduardo suffered a broken left fibula and an open dislocation of the ankle joint after Martin Taylor's reckless challenge and is expected to be in plaster until the end of April.

Arsenal say it will be six months before he can start training with an estimated full recovery time of nine months, but they are believed to be conservative estimates and it could be more than a year before he will be back playing.

For more on this, see this week's Ham&High, out tomorrow (Thursday).