Birmingham 2 Arsenal 2:EDUARDO DA Silva has revealed he remembers little about the incident which saw him suffer a broken leg following a tackle by Martin Taylor during Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Birmingham on Saturday.

The Croatia striker, 25 today, has been ruled out for the remainder of the season and will miss Euro 2008 but insists he is "determined to overcome this injury".

Taylor was immediately sent off following the incident in the third minute of the game at St Andrews provoking a ferocious response from Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger who said the Birmingham defender should never play again - although he later retracted his heat-of-the-moment comments.

Eduardo told Arsenal's official website, www.arsenal.com: "I don't remember the incident very well and it is not something that I want to see again on television or in the newspapers.

"All I remember is that when I fell, I looked down at my foot and it had turned the other way. The rest is just a blank. It was an unfortunate situation but these things can happen in football.

"I am unsure at the moment of the extent of the injury and how long I will be out of action for but I know that I won't be able to play for Arsenal for the rest of the season or be ready in time for the Euros this summer.

"But I'm not worried about that. My concentration and determination is on making as quick a recovery as possible. I am determined to overcome this injury."

The striker, who was beginning to establish himself in the first team in recent weeks following a summer move from Dinamo Zagreb, was yesterday transferred from Birmingham's Selly Oak Hospital to an unnamed London hospital, where he will undergo further treatment.

Eduardo's words come after friction between the two clubs during the last 24 hours with Birmingham desperate to protect Taylor. Birmingham's Republic of Ireland international defender Stephen Kelly believes the extent of Eduardo's horrific injury influenced referee Mike Dean's decision to red card Taylor during the Premier League clash.

He also hit back at Wenger's original comments, saying: "I think Mr Wenger's comments after the game were so harsh. That is disgraceful talk from Arsene Wenger. It is terrible. You know the way Martin is. He slid along the ground.

"He has gone in with one foot. You see players going in week in and week out, diving in with two feet, and lunging and that sort of thing is a disgraceful challenge."

Kelly feels the challenge barely merited a sending-off and believes Dean took into account the sickening setback suffered by Eduardo. The former Tottenham player said: "I don't think you can send a player off for that. That's football. It can happen. It is an accident. Tiny didn't go in two-footed. He didn't lunge. He didn't dive in."

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish is confident a "distraught" Taylor will be able to put the traumatic experience of inflicting the serious injury on Eduardo - however unintentional - behind him.

He said: "We will give Martin support. Everyone here will support him. Most people in the game know Martin and I am sure he will get the support of everyone else because he is hurting at the moment."

Whether the horrific injury affected Arsenal's performance will never be known but the London side's season is in danger of floundering. With a return Champions League game in Milan coming up and beyond that visits to Chelsea and Manchester United, the Premier League leaders need to keep their cool.

For Arsenal playing against 10 men meant little up to half-time as they stumbled along at half-pace with passes going astray and Emmanuel Adebayor wasting several chances.

That much was understandable yet, having recovered their composure for the second half, and quickly dealt with Birmingham taking the lead after 28 minutes through James McFadden's cleverly flighted free-kick, they sat back, tried to run down the clock.

Two smartly taken goals by Theo Walcott in five minutes promised to give them victory but in stoppage-time Gael Clichy was penalised for bringing down Stuart Parnaby - when in fact he had made contact with the ball - and McFadden's penalty brought City a point.