It is the news that all supporters apart from the most mean-spirited have been waiting for. Eduardo da Silva, the Arsenal striker whose career was almost ended by a sickening challenge, played again last night for the first time since he was injured in February.

Exactly 297 days after doctors told him that he might not return, the Brazilian-born Croatia international completed a remarkable comeback from a fractured leg and dislocated ankle by running out at Underhill, the home of Barnet and the Arsenal reserve team, to play for 45 minutes of their 2-0 victory over Portsmouth reserves last night.

Wearing lime-green boots and occasionally showing the touch, technique and pace that convinced Arsène Wenger to buy him from Dynamo Zagreb for £7.5 million in July last year, he played as if he had put the horrific events of February 23 behind him before he was substituted at half-time as a precaution because of a tight hamstring.

“At the moment, I am better and I feel very happy,” Eduardo said. “I came off at half-time because I felt something in my hamstring, but I think I will be all right in two weeks. The situation with my injury was very hard for me, but I have to forget everything bad in my life.”

Arsenal were top of the Barclays Premier League and heading for their fourth title under Wenger ten months ago when Eduardo, who had scored 12 times in his first season at the club, was seriously injured in a tackle by Martin Taylor in the third minute of Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Birmingham City at St Andrew’s.

The injury knocked Arsenal, who finished the season in third place, off their stride, especially after William Gallas remained on the pitch at the end of the game to articulate his frustration petulantly. Eduardo’s absence was also keenly felt by Croatia during the European Championship finals.

Arsenal reserve games usually attract a crowd of about 1,000, but there were twice as many fans — and Wenger, Tony Adams and Dennis Bergkamp — at the sloping ground to watch the 25-year-old’s eagerly awaited return to action. Eduardo was greeted by a standing ovation when he ran out for his warm-up and there appeared to be nothing wrong with his left leg as he practised shooting from distance before the match kicked off.

Playing up the slope and surrounded by some of the Arsenal teenagers who had hit the headlines during the club’s Carling Cup campaign, he rode challenges without any problems and almost capped his impressive perfomance with a left-foot strike from the edge of the penalty area that only just missed a post.

Wenger did not speak after the game, but earlier in the day the manager revealed that taking the captaincy away from Gallas last month was the hardest thing that he has had to do during his managerial career.

Gallas was replaced by Cesc Fàbregas after he criticised his team-mates in an interview in France. “On the human level, what happened with William was the most difficult thing I have had to handle because I have a lot of esteem for him,” Wenger said. “He was caught in a media storm, a witch-hunt that isolated him to the point where it became a handicap for the team. He has refound the stability in his game but I am not convinced that, in his mind, he has refound his stability and his joie de vivre.”

Gallas may still be down in the dumps but Eduardo, who will have a scan on his tight hamstring today, had a smile on his face as he left Underhill after second-half goals by Mark Randall and Kieran Gibbs. As one Arsenal wag put it: “Eduardo’s back, it was free to get in, we won and the atmosphere was better than the Emirates. What more could a Gooner want?”