Arsene Wenger believes Eduardo da Silva will make a full recovery from the horrific injury he sustained against Birmingham City on Saturday.

The Arsenal manager hopes the Croatian forward will bounce back from his broken leg and dislocated ankle, an injury which many thought could end his career.

The Brazilian born striker is recovering at home following a operation to repair the damage he sustained in a challenge with Martin Taylor, the Birmingham defender.

"The first signs are good," said Wenger. "The first problems that could happen are infections and, on that front, it looks good." Asked if Eduardo would make a full recovery, Wenger replied: "We think so."

Meanwhile, Wenger has described the death threats that Taylor has received in the aftermath of the incident as "idiotic". The Arsenal manager brushed off suggestions that he should feel some responsibility for the reaction following an emotional post-match outburst in which he claimed Taylor should never be allowed to play professional football again.

However, Wenger later softened his stance and claims he has not contributed to the vicious reaction directed at Taylor.

"I am responsible for what I say but I came out and retracted what I said. I didn't want to go overboard. I take that responsibility," Wenger said. "But people who make death threats have to feel responsible for what they do. It is idiotic and not accepted but I do not want to be responsible for that."

While Wenger is willing to accept Taylor's claim that he didn't mean to hurt Eduardo, he feels the foul was the inevitable result of a long-held belief in the game that Arsenal can only be beaten if they are roughed up.

"If it is a pure accident you cannot change anything but all the numbers are available," Wenger said. "I do not want to single one incident out but I believe there are some teams that commit more fouls than others.

"There is a consistency there. On our side we just try to be fair and after that we just want the right protection from the referees. If a team commits three times more fouls as the other team, there is three times the chance that an accident like that will happen.

"I would just say one thing. In the last three years we have been the team who has been fouled the most in the league, we have been the team who have made the least fouls and we have been the team punished more than any team in the league. I do not want to go into what is right or wrong. We try to play in a fair way. I do not ask for any special treatment at all. We don't have to find an answer, it is the referees who need to find an answer."

Wenger hopes his young team will put a difficult fortnight behind them and get back to winning ways against Aston Villa on Saturday.

"The response from our team will be positive. We have been deeply disturbed but I also feel something has been deeply touched within the team and I am confident that will come out in the game," Wenger said.

"We are not in a club where hate is part of the culture. We want to get the good things out of the game. We are focused on the magnificent sides of our club."